Chief Economists Forum 2021

Following teaching roles at the University of New England and Macquarie University in the early 1980s, Hans was appointed Chief Economist at State Bank NSW in 1991.

Following a period on the board of Colonial First State he assumed the role of chief economist at CFS in 1997 working there for over a decade until his first retirement in 2008.

After a year of getting in the way at home and writing a book, Hans consulted for Zurich Investment Management and later joined St.George Banking Group as its Chief Economist in 2012.

Hans set up Compass Economics in 2017 where he writes and speaks on economic affairs for his various clients.

Hans has an honours degree in economics from the University of Western Australia and a Masters in Economics from the University of New England.

Chris Andrews is Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of La Trobe Financial. He oversees the Credit Fund and is part of La Trobe Financial's treasury deal team, which manages funding, institutional investors and RMBS issuances.

Chris joined La Trobe Financial in 2006 as Senior Legal Counsel from Minter Ellison Lawyers and commenced as Head of Funds Management in 2009. He is Chairman of La Trobe Financial's Executive Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Asset Liability Committee. Chris is also Deputy CEO.

Chris holds degrees in Commerce and Law (Honours).

Nathan Sheets, PhD, is Chief Economist and Head of Global Macroeconomic Research at PGIM Fixed Income. Mr. Sheets is responsible for the oversight of the firm's Global Macroeconomic Research team, leading the formulation of the global macroeconomic outlook, supporting fundamental views on developed and emerging countries, and the analysis of global interest rate, currency, sovereign, and credit markets. He is a member of the senior investment team and provides thought leadership on global monetary and fiscal policy and macroeconomic trends.

Prior to joining the Firm in 2017, Mr. Sheets was the undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury for international affairs, representing the U.S. government on international economic policy. Previously, he held positions with Citigroup, as global head of International Economics, and with the Federal Reserve Board, most recently as director of the Division of International Finance and FOMC Economist. In addition, Mr. Sheets was a senior advisor to the executive director of the International Monetary Fund and a visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Darrell R. Spence is an economist at Capital Group. He has 27 years of investment industry experience, all with Capital Group.

He holds a bachelor's degree with honors in economics from Occidental College graduating cum laude, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Epsilon. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a member of the National Association for Business Economics. Darrell is based in Los Angeles.

Sean joined the company in 2013 with more than 20 years of industry experience. He spent 10 years as a hedge fund manager at GAM, managing the Emerging Market and Frontier funds. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank Group, Sean served as Head of Global Emerging Markets for Pioneer Investments.

Before this, he spent seven years at Societe Generale Asset Management UK, where he headed the emerging markets desk before becoming Head of Global Equity. From 1994 to 1997, Sean was with Capel-Cure Myers as a portfolio manager for international equity. Before, he worked for James Capel Investment Management (HSBC).

Danielle is the CEO of the Grattan Institute. She believes in the power of public policy to make Australia a better place. Danielle has published extensively on economic reform priorities, budget policy, tax reform, generational inequality and reforming political institutions. She is a sought-after media commentator and speaker on policy issues.

Danielle previously worked at the ACCC, NERA Economic Consulting and the Productivity Commission. She holds an Honours degree in Economics from the University of Adelaide and Masters degrees in Economics and Competition Law, from the University of Melbourne.

Danielle is the National President of the Economic Society of Australia and co-founder and former Chair of the Women in Economics Network.