Libby Cantrill, Managing Director & Head of Public Policy, PIMCO (US) (via video link)

Ms. Cantrill is a managing director and the head of public policy for PIMCO. In her role, she helps to coordinate the firm’s response to public policy issues and analyzes policy and political risk for the firm’s Investment Committee. She is also a member of the firm’s Americas Portfolio Committee. Additionally, she is the co-head of PIMCO’s New York Office and is a founding member of PIMCO Parents and PIMCO Women. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2007, she served as a legislative aide in the House of Representatives and also worked in the investment banking division at Morgan Stanley. She has 16 years of investment experience and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and received her undergraduate degree in economics from Brown University. Ms. Cantrill is a CFA charterholder and a regular contributor to Bloomberg and CNBC. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Phil Ruthven AM, Founder, Ruthven Institute; Founder and Owner, IBISWorld

Phil Ruthven founded the Ruthven Institute in 2017 to help business managers and students to better understand the keys to success and provide the vital information needed to achieve forward planning, effective business strategy and consistent world’s best practice profitability.

Phil Ruthven is the founder and owner of IBISWorld, an international corporation providing online business information, forecasting and strategic services. He is also a director of other companies, advisory boards and charitable organisations.

Phil is a science graduate, with further studies in management and economics at various universities and institutes. He spent over 10 years in the food industry, including executive positions in research, production and marketing, before establishing IBIS in 1971. He is currently a board member of the Australian National University Business College Advisory Board, an Adjunct Professor at The University of Technology Sydney and an ambassador for the Whitelion disadvantaged youth charity.

Phil is widely considered the nation’s most respected strategist and futurist on business, social and economic matters. As one of Australia’s most frequent and prolific commentators in demand by the media, he contributes regularly to radio, TV, newspapers, magazines and documentaries on business, economic and social issues. He also addresses around 50-60 congresses, seminars and conferences each year, having done so for over four decades. He was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2014 for his services to business and the community.

Ashley Townshend, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence, United States Studies Centre (via video link)

Ashley Townshend is Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He works on international security and strategic affairs with a focus on the Indo-Pacific, including regional alliances and partnerships, maritime security, defence policy, and US, Chinese, and Australian strategy. Ashley is also the founding convenor and co-chair of the US-Australia Indo-Pacific Deterrence Dialogue and a lecturer in the Centre’s postgraduate program. A frequent contributor to the Australian and international media, Ashley’s analysis has appeared in outlets such as the Financial Times, CNN, the Australian Financial Review, Bloomberg, ABC, and Sky News.

Previously, Ashley has held research and teaching positions in the Alliance 21 Program at the United States Studies Centre, the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney, the Center for Asia-Pacific Cooperation and Governance at Fudan University, the Warrior-Scholar Project at Yale University, the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University, and Pacific Friends of the Global Fund. He completed his studies at the University of Oxford, Peking University, Sciences Po, Paris, and the University of Sydney where he received the University Medal.

John Livanas, Chief Executive Officer, State Super (SAS Trustee Corporation)

John Livanas is the CEO of the A$42bn fund State Super, one of the oldest funds in Australia and one of the top 100 funds in the world. He is also on the Board of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), and is a member of the University of Sydney, Investment Committee.

Prior to joining State Super, John was CEO for the A$3.0bn AMIST Super Fund. His financial services career has spanned over 25 years and has included being General Manager of the A$20bn FuturePlus Fund and was the inaugural CIO of SEBO, the precursor to the US$168bn sovereign fund of South Africa.

He has also held senior executive roles in consulting and industry at organisations including Deloitte, Kimberly Clark, McCann Erickson (Europe), Rothmans (Australia), eCom Global and Denel.

He holds an MBA and a BSc (Elect. Eng.) from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and has undertaken postgraduate work with UNSW and University of Wollongong.