The Leading Speakers Bureau

Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University

Alberto Alesina is a leader in the field of Political Economics and has published extensively in all major academic journals in economics. He is also a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Center for Economic Policy Research. He has been a co-editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics for eight years and Associate Editor of many academic journals. He has published columns in many leading newspapers around the world and has visited several institutions including MIT, Tel Aviv University, University of Stockholm, The World Bank, and the IMF.

“One of the eight best economists under the age of forty in the world and most likely to win a Nobel Prize in the future” The Economist (1990)

[expand title=”In detail”] Alberto Alesina obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1986 and served as Chairman of the Department of Economics from 2003 – 2006 and was the Taussig Research Professor of Economics from 2006 – 2007. He is a member of the Econometric Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Alberto Alesina’s offers a unique perspective on a variety of topics. He expertly points out how Europe should handle labour productivity, labour market regulation, globalization, support for higher education and research, fiscal policy, and its multiethnic societies. His wake-up call will ring loud and clear for anyone concerned about the future of Europe and the global economy.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Alberto Alesina is a highly respected, knowledgeable and provocative speaker with the ability to engage audiences worldwide. He has an informative presenting style – he is clear, direct and thought provoking.[/expand]
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Multi Award Winning Entrepreneur and Bestselling Author

Jo Haigh is an independent General and Corporate Financier with extensive skills in mergers & acquisitions, private equity and general management as well as an Entrepreneur. She has bought and sold over 300 companies in the last 20 years specialising in owner managed companies. She is currently a partner and Head of Corporate Finance at Corporate Finance Services LLP.

Jo has won speaker of the year award in Vistage and is “the speaker most in demand”

[expand title=”In detail”] In 1989 she founded her own business, the fds Group, a training and consultancy organisation. Over the past years she has held numerous non-executive roles in various different companies and is a regular presenter for the Institute of Directors on corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions. She is a visiting Fellow at the Leeds University where she delivers lectures on Corporate Governance. In her distinguished career, Jo has been has been awarded various accolades including the IOD Business Adviser of the Year Award (2006/07) and Business Woman of the Year 2005/06.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]With her extensive knowledge in Strategic Planning, Financial Management, Corporate Finance and Boardroom Management she offers essential and effective advice how to improve boardroom dynamics, improve company finances and how to effectively grow and sell a business. An astute businesswoman and entrepreneur herself, Jo Haigh has assisted over five hundred company CEO’s by giving them the tools to make their businesses survive and thrive even in difficult times.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Jo is an inspirational and highly motivated speaker with a firm, but common sense approach and the ability to hold and inspire even the most sceptical groups. Her passion, financial and legal knowledge together with her willingness to help others makes her a highly sought after speaker today.[/expand]
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One of the leading European liberal economists, Global adviser for the President of South Korea and Chair the India France economic council

Prof. Guy Sorman is considered one of the leading European liberal economists. He has held several public offices, including advisor to the prime minister of France (1995-1997), Member of the National Commission for Human Rights and deputy mayor of Boulogne (since 1995), near Paris. In 2008, he was appointed as Global adviser for the President of South Korea. Since 2000 he chairs the India France economic council, since 2007 a syndicated columnist for Project Syndicate and since 2009 he is the President of the Boulogne – Billancourt Economic Council.

“A leading French thinker”

[expand title=”In detail”] Guy Sorman has been awarded the highest Argentinian and Brazilian distinctions: The Order of May and the Southern Cross. He taught economics at the Paris Institute of Political Sciences from 1970 to 2000 and at many other Universities over the globe. In 1985, he was a visiting scholar at Stanford, Hoover Institution. He is a regular columnist for Le Figaro in France, the Wall Street Journal and City Journal (contributing editor) in the US, Dong A in Korea, Fakt in Poland , La Nacion in Argentina, and other publications around the world. In 1975, Guy Sorman founded Editions Sorman, a publishing company specialized in Economics and Legal affairs.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Guy Sorman has renovated classic liberalism by showing how it could lead any country towards growth, in any civilization: culture, religion, tradition, even political institutions. He explains how obstacles to development can be overcome when the right economic policy is implemeted. He advises governments and organisations worldwide on the importance of a rational and economically sound answer to ecological anxieties.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Human rights leader, Government advisor and leading economist, Guy Sorman expertly provides his worldwide audiences with whole new perspective on economics, China, India and other global issues.[/expand]
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Professor of Marketing and Best-Selling Author

Jagdish Sheth is a renowned scholar and world authority in the field of marketing. His insights on global competition, strategic thinking and customer relationship management are considered revolutionary. He is currently the Charles H. Kellstadt Chair of Marketing in the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and is one of only four Americans ever honoured with the Viktor Mataja Medal from the Austrian Research Society in Vienna for his contributions to advertising and consumer research.

“Rated as one of the ten top marketing professors in the US”

[expand title=”In detail”] A prolific author, Jagdish Sheth has published more than 200 books and research papers in different areas of marketing and business strategy. Many of these are considered classic references. Prior to his present position he was a distinguished faculty member at the University of Southern California, the University of Illinois, Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Richard D. Irwin Distinguished Marketing Educator Award and the Charles Coolidge Parlin Award which are the two highest awards given by the American Marketing Association.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Jagdish Sheth’s timely advice promises to aid business leaders looking to develop immediate and long-term strategies for improving their competitive position. His well-founded knowledge on strategic thinking, customer relationship management as well as his experience about how to do business in India and China is invaluable for businesses world-wide.[/expand]
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Prominent Economist, Futurist and principal economic commentator for The Independent newspaper

Hamish McRae is the principal economic commentator for The Independent newspaper. He is a visiting professor at Lancaster University and a council member of the Royal Economic Society. His latest work focuses on excellence in the world economy, the shift of economic power to Asia and how technology interacts with human capital to shift competitive advantage.

A proven visionary of the global economy

[expand title=”In detail”] He has been a financial and business editor for major national newspapers, and has won several awards for his journalistic work. His most recent award was Business and Finance Journalist of the Year in the 2006 British Press Awards. Currently, he is working on a new book studying how excellence is developed in different economic situations around the world.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Insights into how the world may develop are underpinned by his knowledge of the global economy. He argues that the true wealth of a nation is as much measured by the ability to manage its cultural, intellectual and social resources, as by its economic output. As a result, he demonstrates how strategies can be developed to uphold sustainability.[/expand]
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Entrepreneur & Co-founder & CEO of Axialent

Axialent co-founder and CEO Andy Freire is an inspired entrepreneur in both business and social realms. He successfully built his business from start-up to US$ 40 million in annual sales in a 30 month span and in the process creating the leading business to business e-commerce platform in Latin America. Most recently, he was chosen as “Young Global Leader 2008” by the World Economic Forum. He is the Chairman of Endeavor Foundation in Argentina and is also member of the board of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) chapter in Argentina.

Andy Freire is one of those rare individuals with exceptional entrepreneurial spirit

[expand title=”In detail”] Andy has a Licenciatura in Economics magna cum laude from the University of San Andrés in Buenos Aires and an OPM from Harvard Business School. He has been the recipient of several awards including Entrepreneur of the Year 2001 and winner of one of two prestigious entrepreneurship awards at the World Young Business Achiever contest. He also has his own TV programme on CNN. Andy previously worked in Procter & Gamble in the finance department and then founded and led Officenet, a company that revolutionized the industry of office-supply distribution in Latin America and grew from one to almost a thousand employees in a 4-year span.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Andy offers decision makers invaluable pointers designed specifically to help companies and individuals alike recognise potential markets and then focus on these markets to generate, and more importantly, maintain growth, productivity and profits. He has participated as a motivational speaker at several events worldwide including the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]A dynamic speaker Andy Freire packs his talks with essential information and useful insights designed specifically to help companies increase profits and sales. With thought provoking examples, using case studies and drawing from his own experience, Andy delivers powerful, refreshing keynotes that leave the audience with actionable recommendations on how to imbed their companies with an “entrepreneurial spirit” and unleash their people’s talents.[/expand]
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Director of The World Competitiveness Yearbook and Professor at IMD Business School & University of Lausanne

Stéphane Garelli is a Professor at both the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), and at the University of Lausanne, Director of The World Competitiveness Yearbook, the most renowned annual analysis of the competitiveness of nations and a reference for government and business leaders around the world

“Competitiveness thrives on unleashing a higher level of ambition everywhere in the firm”

[expand title=”In detail”] Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Le Temps”, he was formerly Chairman of the Board of the Sandoz Financial and Banking Holding, and member of the board of the Banque Edouard Constant.

The author of numerous publications in the field of competitiveness, international trade and investments, he is also a columnist in several magazines. He was permanent senior adviser to the European management of Hewlett-Packard, and before that Managing Director of the World Economic Forum and of the Davos Symposium. He is a member of a number of institutes, such as: China Enterprise Management Association, Board of the ‘Fondation Jean Monet pour l’Europe’, The Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences, The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and the Mexican Council for Competitiveness[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Closely connected to the world of business he is an authority on World Competitiveness and his research focuses particularly on how nations and enterprises compete in international markets.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]With meticulous preparation Stéphane’s fact filled presentations are rich with detail, acumen and invaluable insights.[/expand]
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Chair of the Global Task Force on Building Women Leaders

Selected in 2002 as one of the World Economic Forum’s Global Leaders for Tomorrow, Lucy Marcus represents a new generation of global decision-makers from business, government, politics and civil society who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in areas as diverse as society, the environment, finance, technology and social responsibility in business. She has been recognised as being at the forefront of market predictions for several years.

Lucy was listed as a “Face to Watch” in Management Today Magazine’s annual list of “Britain’s 50 Most Powerful Women”

[expand title=”In detail”] Lucy is the CEO of Marcus Venture Consulting and High Tech Women. Prior to founding both companies, Lucy was co-founder and Vice President of Marketing and Sales of an enterprise management software company, she was in charge of Marketing and Business Development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Infinity Financial Technologies, ran the EMEA operations of a communications consulting company, and worked at Price Waterhouse in the East European Services Division and at the US Treasury’s Economic Policy Division.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]An expert on business and finance, and both the new and the old economy, Lucy helps to identify and tackle the most important questions that need to be answered in the ever-changing economic landscape. She helps key players to assess the corporate landscape and find the answer to “What market am I in? How will I win?”[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]A brilliant and astute speaker on global economic trends and best practices for investment, private equity, venture capital, entrepreneurship, and technology in Europe, Israel and the US, Lucy has spoken in a wide variety of prestigious summits including the World Economic Forum’s European Economic Summit.[/expand]
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Leading Strategist for the ‘Next Economy’

Robin Wood is currently Managing Director of the White Space Partnership and Business Development Director of V3World. His colourful international career as a lawyer, banker, IT strategist and strategic planner for multinational organisations such as Citicorp and Trustbank, has led him to become one of the world’s outstanding catalysts for businesses to prosper in the connected economy.

[expand title=”In detail”] Both descriptive and prescriptive, he shows business leaders how to create an environment of flexibility and innovation, manage complexity and prepare for the dawn of collaborative capitalism. His 10 rules for the “Next Economy” provide the key to success in an interconnected global market. For over 20 years he has helped senior executives at Fortune 500 companies scan the horizon for new opportunities, develop new plays and transform their organisations.

Prior to co-founding V3, Robin was President of Federation One, Managing Director at Scient, and co-founder of the e-business group at Ernst & Young. He has deep experience in the fields of high-technology, software and e-business. A veteran of many start-ups, Robin has, to date, raised venture capital five times, successfully setting up his own first business in 1990.[/expand]
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Former Canadian Minister of Trade, Canadian Ambassador to the WTO, President Canada China Business Council

Sergio Marchi is a former Canadian politician who served as a federal Cabinet Minister in three different portfolios during his time in government: Citizenship and Immigration, Environment, and International Trade. He was also the Ambassador of Canada to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Office of the United Nations (UN), in Geneva, 1999 – 2004, and a UN Migration Commissioner, 2004 – 2006. He also served as the former President of the Canada China Business Council. Sergio Marchi is an Adjunct Professor at Webster University, in Geneva, where he teaches a graduate course on Globalisation.

“Sergio Marchi is one of the leading voices on global politics and economics”

[expand title=”In detail”] Marchi left politics in 1999 to accept an appointment as Canadian Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. He was subsequently elected unanimously as Chairman of the WTO’s General Council. In the private sector he has fulfilled roles as the Senior Business Advisor, Lang Michener LLP, from 2006 to 2008 and is the Senior Advisor, to the Chairman of a Family-owned International Business Enterprise. He was also the Chairman of the Canadian Services Coalition from 2006 to 2008.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Sergio Marchi informs and engages as he contributes incisive analysis of how organisations and individual leaders can deal with challenges, prepare for a new world and develop a truly global perspective. He brings a trusted, tested international perspective to such issues as the world economy, politics, and globalisation showing audiences how global events resonate locally. An extensive career, both in business and government, puts the Honourable Sergio Marchi in an excellent position to also explain the impressive growth and role of China within the international community.[/expand]
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