John Bruton, the Irish Taoiseach between 1994 and 1997, headlines the speakers at this year’s IPE Conference & Awards, which returns to the Hofburg Palace in Vienna on 20 November.

In addition to serving as Ireland’s prime minister, Bruton was leader of the Fine Gael Party and played a leading role in the Irish Peace Process, which culminated in the Good Friday Agreement.

He went on to serve as the European Union’s ambassador to the US until 2009, when he became chairman of IFSC Ireland, a private-sector body set up to develop the financial services industry in Ireland.

Joining Bruton among the notable speakers at this year’s event are prominent European pension fund executives, including Christian Böhm of Austria’s small but innovative multi-employer scheme APK Pensionskasse, and Stefan Dunatov, CIO at Coal Pension Trustees, the investment body managing the £20bn (€25bn) belonging to the UK Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme and British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme.

Complementing the line-up are two leading academics: Julian Franks, professor of finance at the London Business School, and Debbie Harrison, a visiting professor at the Pensions Institute at London’s Cass Business School.

The IPE Conference & Awards, now in their fourteenth year, reward excellence and innovation in Europe’s diverse and dynamic pensions sector and constitute Europe’s largest annual gathering of pension funds.

With three brand-new categories this year – diversification, infrastructure and credit – the Awards continue to cover the most topical and challenging areas of investment for European pension funds.

The deadline for entries is 12 September.

Full details can be found here or by contacting Robert Watson on +44 (0)20 3465 9327 or at robert.watson@ipe.com.

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