Marcello Sala

Marcello Sala brings over 30 years of experience in financial services, banking, private equity, and mergers and acquisitions, gained within leading global institutions.

He is Advisor to the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance, offering strategic counsel on financial markets, economic policy, and public asset management.

Previously, he was Director General of the Department of the Economy at the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. The Department oversees the Ministry’s shareholdings in over 200 companies—together representing nearly 20% of Italy’s GDP—and manages state-owned assets such as real estate and concessions. It also designs and implements financial support instruments for economic growth, including those aimed at exports and SMEs.

During his mandate, he concluded investments and divestitures totaling over €7.5 billion, within a total transaction volume exceeding €25 billion. These included major strategic operations such as the privatization of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the sale of ITA Airways, and the acquisition of FiberCop from Telecom Italia—the largest direct investment ever made by the Ministry and the largest buyout in Europe in 2024.

From 2016 to 2023, he was a Partner at Apis Partners, a global private equity firm focused on financial services and native to ESGI (Environmental, Social, Governance and Impact) principles.

Earlier in his career, he served as Executive Vice Chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo Group’s Management Board (2007–2016), responsible for the Group’s international business and institutional relations. In 2008, he co-founded Banca ITB (now Mooney), a pioneering neo-bank focused on innovative payment solutions for the Italian retail market and led its successful sale in 2016 as Executive Director.

He currently serves  on the Board of Directors of Leonardo S.p.A., the Board of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), the Board of the Associazione Bancaria Italiana (ABI) and is a member of the Council for Inclusive Capitalism. In addition to holding positions on the boards of numerous financial and industrial companies,  his previous roles include: Member of the Committee on Capital Market Reforms and the Fintech Committee at the Ministry of Economy and Finance; Chairman of the Italian-Egyptian Business Council; Vice Chairman of Alexbank; Board Member of the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI); Board Member of the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and memberships in the Trilateral Commission and the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Financing and Capital.

Marcello Sala

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Marcello Sala

Will Farrell

Federated Hermes
Assistant Manager, EOS
London

Will co-leads the climate change theme at EOS, the stewardship arm of Federated Hermes Limited, where his coverage includes companies in Europe and Australia, primarily financial services, energy, chemicals, and materials. Prior to joining EOS, Will worked in the energy and infrastructure investment banking team at Macquarie Capital, where he specialised in renewable energy. Before that, Will held a number of roles across the UK climate policy space, including as a parliamentary researcher for Rt. Hon. Chris Skidmore MP on climate and energy issues, and as a climate and economic policy analyst at a diplomatic institute. He was appointed as a voluntary adviser to Rt. Hon. Alok Sharma MP, President of COP26, on preparations for COP26 after co-founding a Westminster climate policy group in 2019, which engaged MPs and Members of the House of Lords to advocate for more ambition on climate action in public policy. Will has a Bachelor’s degree (1st Class Honours) in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.