Clare Smith

CIO at Beyond Impact

Speaker

Claire Smith, the founder of humane investment platform Beyond Investing, is a vegan and environmentalist with 33 years experience in finance and investment at top-tier banks and investment houses

Beyond Investing creates investment programs designed for animal advocates and climate conscious investors in both public listed equity markets and venture capital.

Beyond Advisors is the architect of the US Vegan Climate Index, Europe Vegan Climate Index and Global Vegan Climate Index, a range of stock indexes which screen out all animal exploitation and fossil fuel from major market benchmarks, and the Vegan World Index, which provides a targeted portfolio of small to midcap companies relevant to the vegan trend. Beyond Advisors US subsidiary Beyond Investing is sponsor of the US Vegan Climate ETF, listed on the New Yor Stock Exchange.

Beyond Impact focuses on investment in early stage and growth companies providing vegan, plant-based and cruelty-free products and services.

Beyond Animal is a networking and funding platform for the animal-free products industry to connect, share information and collaborate, which incorporates Funding by Beyond Animal a tool for qualified investors to access direct investments in animal alternatives.

Claire is the founder of Beyond Cruelty Foundation, formed to campaign for zero animal exploitation and to fund safe havens for animals, which will also receive a portion of profits of companies under the Beyond Investing umbrella.

Previously, she was a research analyst, partner and shareholder at alternatives advisory firm Albourne Partners, covering managers globally across systematic quantitative equity, convertible and volatility and hedging strategies. Claire also led a project to expand Albourne's proprietary database on alternatives managers and digitize the research process.

Prior to joining Albourne in 2004, Claire provided bespoke hedge fund research to London funds of funds and published well over 100 articles in the financial press. From 1986 to 1998 Claire was employed at various UBS group companies as a derivatives broker, marketer and structurer. Claire started her career in 1985 as a credit analyst at Chase Manhattan Bank after completing a Masters program in Chemical Engineering and Management at Imperial College, London.

Claire founded 100 Women in Finance in Geneva in 2007 and oversaw its growth in Switzerland through till 2014, as a member of the London Board, organizing over 100 events, including seven Galas which raised well over $1 million for charity.

From 2013 to 2018 Claire served on the Board of AVVEC, a Geneva-based charity that provides support to victims of domestic violence.