Coronavirus: a message from our leadership team

Saker is Chief Executive of Federated Hermes Limited and is also a member of the Federated Hermes, Inc. Executive team. He was appointed CEO in November 2011 having joined the firm in June 2009 as CIO. Prior to this, Saker was Global Head of Equities at Fortis Investments, having initially been appointed to the firm as CIO Global Equities in 2005. Before this, he was CIO of Global Equities and Head of Marketing for SGAM UK. This role followed SGAM’s acquisition of Trust Company of the West (TCW), where Saker was a Managing Director, running global and international strategies, as well as managing TCW’s London office. He started his career at Mercury Asset Management in 1987.

Saker is the founder of the 300 Club, a group of leading CIOs and investment professionals who seek to challenge investment orthodoxy. He was an inaugural member of the CFA Institute’s Future of Finance Advisory Council from 2013 until 2019. He is a member of the Value Reporting Foundation Council, the International Finance Corporation, the FCA-PRA Climate Financial Risk Forum, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies, as well as the United Nations Environmental Programme Financial Initiative Steering Committee. He sits on the FSCB, formerly the Banking Standards Board, which was created as a result of a Parliamentary enquiry to restore trust in the UK banking industry, and on the UN Business and Human Security Initiative Advisory Board. Saker also served on the UK National Advisory Board and became a founding member of the Impact Investing Institute on Impact Investing. He is a member of the Chancellor’s Circle of St Mary’s University and is on the advisory Board of the National Youth Orchestra.

In 2015, Saker was named CEO of the Year at the Global Investor Investment Excellence Awards and, in 2018, was named CEO of the Year at the Financial News Asset Management Europe Awards. More recently, Saker was named as European Personality of the Year for 2020 at the Funds Europe Awards. He has a BA and PhD in Medieval History from King's College, University of London.

Saker was awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s 2020 New Year’s Honours list for services to Responsible Business and Finance.

Chris is CEO of Real Estate & Head of Private Markets and a member of the Senior Management Team for Federated Hermes Limited. Chris joined in 2010, having successfully established Australian fund manager QIC’s European office in London. Prior to that, he was Head of European Property at HSBC. Chris spent the majority of his career as a fund manager at Prudential, where he led the diversification of its UK real estate exposure into overseas markets in 2001.

Under his leadership, the Real Estate business has led a number of landmark real estate transactions, including the largest regeneration project in Europe at King’s Cross, the development of the iconic Silverstone circuit, the major regeneration at Paradise Circus Birmingham, and the rejuvenation of central Milton Keynes. Chris is currently the Chairman of MEPC, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the senior non-executive director of NewRiver Retail Plc, a member of the Bank of England Commercial Property Committee and a Founding Board Member of INREV. As immediate past President of the British Property Federation, Chris has engaged actively with Central and Local Government to recognise the pivotal contribution that real estate and infrastructure make as conduits for growth and regeneration.

Chris is also the BTPS Director on the Argent Board and has taken a lead role in promoting responsible investment with major regeneration schemes at King’s Cross and Paradise Circus, Birmingham.

Chris holds a BSc (Hons) in Land Management from Reading University.

Eoin is Head of Investment and a member of the Senior Management Team for Federated Hermes Limited. Eoin also leads the Investment Office, which is responsible to clients for the investment teams’ consistent delivery of responsible, risk-adjusted performance and adherence to the processes which earned them their ‘kitemarks’. He is also the Executive sponsor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Eoin joined in January 2015 with almost 30 years’ investment experience. Eoin joined from GSA Capital Partners, where he was a fund manager. Before this, he was Chief Investment Officer at Old Mutual from 2004 to 2008 and also held senior positions at Callanish Capital Partners LLP and Northern Trust Global Investments. He began his career as a graduate trainee at Manufacturers Hanover Trust (now JPMorgan Chase) and subsequently performed senior portfolio manager roles at Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors (now BlackRock), PanAgora Asset Management and First Quadrant. Eoin earned an MA (Hons) in Economics and Law from the University of Edinburgh and an MBA from Warwick Business School. Additionally, he has a Certificate in Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies from Stanford University and a Diploma in Specialist Rescue from Coventry University. Eoin is currently studying for a Masters in Sustainable Aquaculture at St Andrew’s University.

Eoin is a Freeman of the City of London, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths, Master of the Guild of Investment Managers, and a Fellow of the RSA. He is a member of the Exmoor Search and Rescue team, a fully qualified Swift-water Rescue Instructor, a Powerboat Rescue Operator and a Flood Water Incident Manager.

Harriet is Head of Business Development, a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) and an Executive Board Director of Federated Hermes Limited. Harriet is also a member of the Federated Hermes Research Committee. She joined the firm in 2011 with responsibility for sales, client service, marketing, communications and product strategy. Under her leadership, we have built a fast-growing and profitable third-party business comprising many of the world’s leading institutional and wholesale investors. As a member of the SMT, her responsibilities include development of corporate strategy and delivery of profitability. Appointed to the board of Federated Hermes Limited in 2013, Harriet became the company’s first female executive director. Harriet chairs the Corporate Strategy Group, which develops the company’s organic and inorganic growth plans.

Harriet has more than 25 years’ experience in finance. In 1990 she joined the global trading team at Bankers Trust, initially trading currency options and subsequently holding senior derivatives sales roles in Paris, London and New York before joining Morgan Stanley’s fixed income group in 1996. In 2003, Harriet established Portico Advisors, an asset raising and marketing advisory firm for alternative investment managers, including hedge funds, private equity and real estate strategies, which she ran until joining Federated Hermes.

Harriet acts as a mentor to female executives at the company, encouraging them to fulfil their potential and providing practical insight and guidance on how to achieve success in the City. Harriet is a regular commentator in the print and broadcast media on business, economic and diversity issues and, for the last five years, has been recognised as one of the top 100 women in European finance by Financial News.

Harriet holds a BA in Architecture from Princeton University.

Ian Kennedy is Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff and a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) for Federated Hermes Limited. Ian joined in 2015, taking responsibility for finance, IT, legal, HR, operations and facilities. As COO, Ian’s role is to ensure that we operate a best-in-class organisational infrastructure to support our clients, investment teams and business development activities. As a member of the SMT, his responsibilities include development of corporate strategy and delivery of profitability. In 2020, Ian also became Chief of Staff for Federated Hermes Limited to support the Chief Executive in certain day-to-day responsibilities.

Ian entered the City in 1992, joining Prudential Bache Ltd, initially as European accountant and subsequently as regional risk and control manager. In 2002, Ian joined Dryden Wealth Management as Finance Director, joining Fortis in 2005 when they acquired the firm. Ian became COO for the UK wealth management and private banking division, ultimately acting as interim CEO and leading its sale to BNP Paribas in 2009-10, where he then became Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of BNP Paribas Wealth Management UK.

In 2012, Ian established InvestMe Financial Services LLC, one of the earliest firms in the UAE to be approved for investment advisory business activities by the Securities and Commodities Authority in Abu Dhabi. The firm was an active supporter of disadvantaged children in India, funding the creation of 11 schools in some of the poorest areas of the country.

Ian qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen & Co and holds a BSc in Biochemistry from King's College London.