Vicki Bakhshi, Columbia Threadneedle

Vicki Bakhshi joined Columbia Threadneedle Investments through the acquisition of BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA) in 2021, having previously been with BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA) and its predecessor, F&C Asset Management, since 2006. Her focus is on advising the firm on climate change and on the implementation of its net zero ambitions. Previously she spent five years in the UK government, including as Prime Minister Tony Blair’s policy adviser on climate change, and as a senior member of the team responsible for the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. Bakhshi spent three years at the Financial Times as a leader writer, and two years as an economist at the Bank of England. She chairs the Investment Association’s Climate Change Working Group, and is a member of the Corporate and Policy Advisory Groups of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change. Bakhshi holds an MSc in Economics from Warwick University and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.