MEET OUR SENIOR TEAM
Miguel Santisteve, M.B.A. and Law graduate, is an industry expert on how Sustainable and Responsible Investors (SRI) are integrating companies’ Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) indicators in their investment decisions and their engagement with listed companies. Miguel has worked in the Investor Relations advisory space since 2008.
He is the Founder and CEO at Leaders Arena Limited.
Prior to that, he was an Associate Director for Nasdaq Advisory Services and previously an Operations Manager at Thomson Reuters’ content-research division following earlier analyst roles in the company from 1999.
Miguel is a member of the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets (NSFM) and his articles are regularly featured by media outlets such as CNBC, The Guardian, Environmental Finance and IR Magazine. He has been an academic discussant during the 2015 United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) Academic Conference in London, a panellist at the 2014 UNPRI Academic Conference held in Montréal, presenting on investor engagement, and represented the corporate sector at the 2014 Environmental Finance round-table on climate change. Miguel has presented at numerous Investor Relations events in recent years such as those organised by the London Stock Exchange, IR Club conference in Frankfurt and the Helsinki Stock Exchange about the opportunity for companies to enhance ESG communication with investors.
Heather is our in-house SASB expert, a Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) credential-holder, with a deep knowledge of the approach and application to linking material sustainability information to financial performance. Former Head of Sustainable Investing and Governance policy at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), Heather brings 17 years of Financial Services Experience, with 10 of those specific to ESG/Sustainability.
In her previous role at GSAM, Heather led and carried out corporate engagement for hundreds of issuers across ESG and proxy voting topics. She also led the design of an ESG evaluation system and coordinated its integration across a Fundamental Equity investment platform. Her ESG research projects on thematic topics brought further actionable insights for internal and external constituents.
Heather's other Financial Services experience includes product management and portfolio administration.
Chris is an industry expert on how investors assess companies on material ESG issues and is a thought leader on corporate governance, engagement and proxy voting. He also has extensive knowledge of the key ESG ratings agencies’ methodologies.
In his previous role as Vice President and Corporate Governance Specialist at Moody’s Investors Service (MIS), Chris was responsible for leading MIS’s corporate governance analysis and corporate engagement. He won a number of Moody’s research awards for authoring timely and original research on topics including shareholder activism, executive compensation, and risk oversight, and was quoted frequently in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Bloomberg.
Chris’s previous experience includes designing corporate governance education programs for senior executives and corporate directors and leading non-US proxy voting research at IRRC, now part of ISS.
Based in the US, Chris enjoys helping companies understand investor priorities and improve their ESG communication.
Natalia joined Leaders Arena in 2020 with a wide range of expertise including Investor Relations, sustainability reporting & design, ESG communication and social impact.
Her experience in ESG started in 2014 when, in her Investor Relations capacity in one of the largest Oil & Gas companies in Europe, she was directly involved in the creation of an ESG communications program. This included working closely with internal and external stakeholders, engaging with analysts and investors, and managing the ESG reporting process. In 2020 this organization became the first energy company to announce a commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and its leadership in the ESG space is globally recognized. Prior to joining Leaders Arena, she worked as a Finance and HR Manager in a leading humanitarian international NGO.
Based in the UK, George joined Leaders Arena in 2020 and is our in-house expert on ESG ratings. With a focus on data verification and ESG benchmarking, he helps clients maximise sustainability communication by identifying reporting gaps and subsequently, supporting the improvement of client ESG scores.
His experience in sustainability analysis stems from his studies as a graduate in Environment and Sustainability and Masters in Sustainability Planning and Environmental Policy. With prior experience in the field of sustainability research, he has numerous years of experience analysing a range of sectors and ESG topics, carrying out studies looking at issues such as sustainability in the fashion industry and domestic renewable energy use.
Joining Leaders Arena in 2020, David led the research of the inaugural Leaders Arena 2021 Biodiversity Reporting Study. With a background in Law, he has been able to leverage his understanding of ESG regulations to support Human Rights policies of our clients and the creation of our own ESG Regulation Hub.
David can connect the dots in the ESG space using a wide lens to integrate business, investor and sustainability considerations in his work. Prior to joining Leaders Arena, David had varied professional experiences, including helping to manage a micro-business and working in operational sustainability at the University of Southampton.
After joining the UK team in 2021, Keihlan has gone from strength to strength, from helping us develop our first ESG investor outlook to supporting clients with ESG benchmarking, investor presentations, roadshows and ESG ownership studies. With a background in Geography and Environmental Management, he has been able to leverage his deep appreciation of the wide range of ESG issues at both global and local level.
Prior to Leaders Arena, Keihlan gained valuable experience in leading his own team in the management consultancy sector and was involved in data analysis for the UK Green Home grant scheme.