The CFO Agenda

A global leader in Finance, Guillaume de Pommereau excels in driving business value at enterprise level and leading financial organizations across complex multinational environments.

In leadership roles with Hitachi Europe, Takeda Pharmaceuticals Europe, Newell, and Dell Computer, he has delivered significant value while developing strong business partnership and maintaining the highest standards of compliance.

Leading a team of 70 finance experts at Hitachi Europe, he focuses as much on the revenue side as on the cost side, with a view that Finance is at the heart of a company’s performance ability.

Guillaume started his career in audit in PwC in Paris 26 years ago. He worked in France, Germany and is now based in the UK. His experience covers the technology sector at Dell and KPNQwest, the consumer goods sector with Parker Pen, Waterman, Papermate, the health sector with Takeda Pharma and Alliance Healthcare and the industry sector with Hitachi.

Guillaume is a graduate from EM Lyon Business School and holds a Master in Econometrics from Paris University. In 2009, he graduated from TRIUM, a Global Executive MBA delivered by NYU Stern School of Business, HEC Paris and London School of Economics.

Markus Kobler is Global Chief Financial Officer for Allianz Global Investors and a member of its Global Executive Committee.

Markus joined Allianz Global Investors in 2013 from Bank Julius Baer & Co where he was Global Head of Onboarding and responsible for the transfer of clients and staff in the integration of Merrill Lynch International Wealth Management into Julius Baer.

Prior to this, Markus was COO Asia and Deputy CEO Bank Julius Baer, Singapore. Based in Singapore for more than six years, he was part of a team that set up Julius Baer’s operations in Asia, namely Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Jakarta. He was responsible for building the bank’s platform with two booking centres and oversaw the support functions including IT, Operations, Finance, Legal & Risk and HR.

Before moving to Asia, Markus helped to coordinate the integration of SBC Wealth Management into the Julius Baer Group in 2005 and was in charge of the Business Line
Management function of Julius Baer’s Asset Management division.

Before joining Julius Baer in 2003, Markus was a senior consultant at McKinsey in Zurich where he managed client merger initiatives and strategic redesign projects in the areas of performance and product management for a number of asset managers and private banks.

Markus holds a PHD in Economics from the University of Basel in Switzerland.

Tom joined Thomson Airways as Finance Director in 2015. Thomson Airways a member of the TUI Group, is the world’s largest charter airline. Previously Tom was Vice President of Finance for Jumeirah Group in Dubai between 2013 and 2015 and Group Financial Controller at easyJet plc between 2007 and 2013. Tom studied at Durham University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998 with Deloitte. Married with three young children, Tom is a passionate supporter of Arsenal FC and enjoys travelling, the gym and running.

Wendy Smith is the Chief Financial Officer for Kellogg’s EMEA Region. She was appointed to this post in September, 2015. Prior to joining Kellogg’s, Wendy held senior finance positions in Johnson & Johnson and P&G. Most recently Wendy was the Chief Financial Officer for J&J’s Consumer Division in Asia Pacific Region. To date, she has held a range of senior positions in finance functions globally and in different regions across the world. She has industry experiences in Consumer Products, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceuticals.

As a finance professional, Wendy believes in the importance of Compliance, Business Partnering & People Development. Her primary focus and passion is in developing people, and being an active mentor and sponsor for many professionals in and outside of her company.

Married with three sons, Wendy values work life balance, diversity, and professional excellence. Her personal philosophy is to always push for breakthrough results and breakthrough thinking. She recently moved with her family to Ireland and enjoys traveling, music, photography, and spending time with her family.