Lunch Webinar Discussion 'Emerging Market Credit: A True Diversifier and an Underallocated Opportunity'
-
Manfred Schepers
CEO, ILX Management
Manfred Schepers is the founder and CEO of ILX Management, the Amsterdam-based development finance private debt asset manager and has 30+ years’ senior-level experience in both development finance and international capital markets. From 2006-2016 he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). From 2017-21 he was a member of the Investment Committee of the EU’s European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and served on the Supervisory Boards of Van Lanschot Kempen and the Nederlandse Waterschapsbank from 2017-2025. From 1986-2004 Schepers had an extensive career at SBC Warburg and UBS where he was Global Head of Debt Capital Markets from 1990-2004. Schepers holds an MSc (Econ) and a BSc (Econ) in Development Economics from the London School of Economics and International Baccalaureate from UWC Atlantic College. -
Nadia Nikolova
Nadia Nikolova, Chief Executive Officer, responsAbility Investments AG (part of M&G)
Nadia Nikolova has been the Chief Executive Officer of responsAbility Investments AG, an M&G-owned global impact asset manager focused on emerging markets since September 2025. Prior to responsAbility, she held senior leadership roles at Allianz Global Investors, including Head of Direct Lending, where she built and scaled private credit and blended-finance platforms across Europe and Asia. She also serves on the Board of the Swiss Platform for Impact Investing. Her long-term vision is to move at least 10% of institutional portfolio allocations toward emerging-market impact investments. -
Olaf van den Heuvel
Chief Investment Officer, Achmea Investment Management
Olaf van den Heuvel, CFA, is Chief Investment Officer at Achmea Investment Management. He has over 25 years of experience in asset management and institutional investing. He started his career at Aegon Asset Management in 2000 as a Portfolio Manager and Strategist, and held a variety of leadership roles before being appointed CIO and Board Member in 2017. In December 2024, he joined Achmea Investment Management as Chief Investment Officer. Van den Heuvel holds a degree in Economics from Tilburg University and is a CFA Charterholder. -
Sven Gralla
Senior Director, Private Debt, bfinance
Sven Gralla is Senior Director, Private Debt at bfinance in London, advising institutional investors on private credit strategies, manager selection and portfolio construction. Previously, he held investment roles at LBBW Asset Management and Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe, focusing on private debt fund-of-funds investments, and co-founded 221B Select, an AI-driven private markets data platform. He is a founding member of the BAI NextGen Initiative and initiated the European CAIA NextGen Impact Scholarship. He also serves on the Credit Advisory Board of WSH Family Office and the Advisory Boards of the PDI Germany Forum and PDI Europe Summit.