The Towards Sustainability Labelling Agency

Christel teaches Finance at ICHEC Brussels Management School. She holds a PhD in Applied Economics from Ghent University. Her research activities focus on sustainable finance, impact investing and the integration of ESG (Environment, Society, Governance) concerns into the financial practices of institutional investors.
Christel is currently a member of the Advisory Board of several financial institutions and of the Supervisory Board of Impact Finance Belgium.

Catherine has been active for almost 34 years in Belgian-based international financial institutions, where she gained significant experience in financial analysis and asset management. Conscious of the major role finance should play in driving the world towards a more sustainable future, she decided to focus on responsible investing and corporate governance practices. She complemented her Master’s degree in Roman philology and literature (KULeuven) with various certificates, the most recent of which were awarded by Chapter Zero, GUBERNA, Saïd Business School and Louvain Management School. She serves as a non-executive director on the boards of various financial institutions.

Ben is the owner of Beconomics, a consulting firm dedicated to Investor Education & Behaviour, and CEO / executive board member for the Individual Investor Federation in Belgium VFB VZW. He holds additional board mandates at BetterFinance, Towards Sustainability and a UCITS fund. His 20+ years in the financial industry include 10+ years at Morningstar, experience in Banking/Investment Advisory and Asset Management, a seat on the SMSG at ESMA, and several advisory councils. Ben holds a Master of Psychology from Ghent University, co-authored several investment books and is a guest lecturer at multiple universities/ colleges and international investment conferences.

Harry is a passionate and enterprising professor at Maastricht University. He teaches Ethics, Organisations and Society and has been affiliated with the Finance Department of the School of Business and Economics since 2006. He is professor emeritus of Social Entrepreneurship at Utrecht University. He also taught at Nyenrode from 1999 to 2006, where he was the first European professor of Sustainable Investment. In his work, Harry focuses on “the other”. As social beings, we can only develop ourselves in relation to others – to achieve our goals through cooperation. In addition to his academic positions, Harry held senior management positions in the financial sector for seventeen years.

Vincent has an engineering background. He has worked in several sectors, from banking to environmental protection, development cooperation and impact finance, building bridges between sectors that don't otherwise talk easily to each other. He has always been driven by the conviction that finance is a major lever to spearhead societal change. In his last executive position, until June 2024, Vincent was country manager for LITA.co, a crowdfunding platform that is exclusively dedicated to companies with a high environmental or societal value.

Thierry spent most of his career in the banking sector, mainly in private banking in Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland. He initially worked in operational support and control services and eventually took on the role of CEO at Puilaetco for about six years. He later worked as an independent interim manager for other banking institutions and on Fintech and/or social projects. Thierry currently holds the position of Managing Director of Les Petits Riens/Spullenhulp.

Karel is CEO of Febelfin, the Belgium federation of the financial sector. Before joining Febelfin he was Partner with Egon Zehnder, a global leadership advisory firm where he was a core member of their Financial Services and Public Sector Practice Groups serving banks, supervisors and multilateral organizations on an international basis. Karel started his career as an attorney and afterwards held management and board positions at Deutsche Bank, Bpost and Bpost Bank.

Marc is Director Asset Management & Private Banking at Febelfin, the Belgium federation of the financial sector and Director General of BEAMA, the Belgian Asset Managers Association (BEAMA). Before joining Febelfin he was 5 years Director at Compagnie de Banque Privée Quilvest (CBP Quilvest). He started his career in the dealing room of a Japanese bank and afterwards joined the Belgian Banking & Finance Commission (now FSMA) where he worked for 24 years in various positions, specialising in private banks and asset management companies. He’s also visiting lecturer at the EHSAL Management School where he teaches in the postgraduate program “asset management “. He’s a board member of EFAMA, the European Asset Managers Association.

Tom is Director Sustainable Finance at Febelfin, the Belgian federation of the financial sector. In his current role, he led the development of the Towards Sustainability Quality Standard and label. He is also responsible for a wide range of sustainable finance issues, going from sustainable lending and investing, ESG data collection, circular economy and biodiversity. He studied philosophy and started his career at the Belgian Asset Managers Association (BEAMA).

Bart is Director of the Life and Health Insurance Department and member of the Management Board of Assuralia, the professional association of insurance and reinsurance companies operating in Belgium. Thanks to his actuarial background combined with his more than two decades of expertise in life and pension insurance issues, he serves also as an active member of the Advisory Commission of Supplementary Pensions, and of the National Pension Committee of the Belgian Government.

Thomas is Secretary General of the European Structured Investment Products Association (EUSIPA), a role in which he also covers the management of the Belgian Structured Investment Products Association (BELSIPA). Thomas, a lawyer by profession, has worked for many years at Linklaters, a major global law firm where until 2012 he was Head of Business Development, first for Belgium, then for Western Europe. He provides for an expertise in European law, capital markets law (derivatives side), corporate governance and international relations.