Toby Nangle Keynote Speaker

Contributing Editor of The Financial Times
Award-winning portfolio manager and pension system expert
Helping firms navigate economic and financial market challenges

Toby Nangle's Biography

Toby Nangle is an independent analyst and a Contributing Editor of The Financial Times, writing most on financial markets, monetary policy, and pension systems.

He spent twenty-five years in asset management, most recently as Global Head of Asset Allocation at Columbia Threadneedle Investments before resigning in 2022 to start Principals with Principles, a non-profit project seeking to help asset management firms cut their ongoing direct linkage to international human rights crimes.

He is an Associate of the Resolution Foundation, an independent think-tank focused on improving living standards for those on low-to-middle incomes, a trustee of the Baring Foundation, an independent member of the Investment, Audit and Risk Committee of the Royal Society of Arts, and sits on the Investment Committee of the learning disability charity The Baily Thomas Charitable Trust. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of SG Pension Enterprises.

During his career, he has been awarded various accolades including The Society of Professional Economist’s Rybczynski Prize for the best piece of writing in business economics in 2015/16; Professional Pensions Multi Asset Manager of the Year 2017, 2018 & 2020; and Insurance Asset Risk Multi Asset Manager of the Year 2019 & 2020.

Economy and financial markets:

How financial markets both reflect expectations of real world developments and inform them. For example, emerging market and Eurozone sovereign debt dynamics, bank runs, currency crises, the UK LDI crisis. Less glamorously, how market expectations around monetary and fiscal policy set bounds for policy makers and impact firms and households.

Asset allocation:

Capital market assumptions, setting strategic asset allocation, tactical allocation decision-making.

Financial Market History:

Looking at equity and bond market data over the last two centuries.

Pensions:

Drawing on deep researched knowledge as to the evolution and state of the UK, US, Canadian, Danish, Swedish and Australian public and private pension systems.

He brings rare credibility from twenty-five years in asset management, including as Global Head of Asset Allocation at Columbia Threadneedle, giving audiences a practitioner’s view of how markets and policy translate into real-world portfolio decisions.
He decodes monetary policy and financial market dynamics with the clarity of an FT contributing editor, helping leaders separate noise from signal when volatility, inflation and rates reshape strategy.
He connects financial markets to pensions and long-term savings outcomes, equipping trustees, executives and policymakers to make better decisions on risk, return and intergenerational fairness.
He pairs market expertise with principled leadership through Principals with Principles, showing organisations how investment choices intersect with governance, accountability and human rights risk.
He delivers incisive, evidence-led briefings that help boards and investment committees stress-test assumptions, improve decision quality and communicate more confidently with stakeholders.