Daniela joined Snowball as CEO in September 2019 and is excited about systemic solutions for a healthy, prosperous and peaceful future in this planet.  Snowball is a diversified investment fund that aims to create positive outcomes for people and planet whilst generating competitive financial returns. 

Daniela has over 15 years’ experience as a CEO and Board member at the intersection of the commercial and impact worlds, starting her career in private equity and venture capital investing and then spending nine years at the helm of Impetus, a global venture philanthropy leader.  

Daniela is a non-executive director at InterContinental Hotels Group Plc and a Trustee of the Institute for the Future of Work and of the Haddad Foundation.  She is a Senior Advisor for the Forward Institute.

Daniela was awarded an OBE at the King’s Birthday Honours list in 2024 for services to business and impact investing. Among her various other accolades, are Fifty Most Influential in Sustainable Finance (2023 - Financial News), top 100 women in engineering (2019 - Financial Times), “20 People who are Changing Brazil and the World for the Better" (2017- Istoé Dinheiro) and 100 people who make Britain a better place (2008 – Independent on Sunday “Happy List”).

Why is corporate culture becoming more important to you when deciding who you allocate assets to? 

For us, performance means both financial returns and measurable positive impact. So right from the start, our culture, governance and practices are geared towards delivering our business strategy and theory of change. 

In your view, why is it important to set a higher standard of stewardship and behaviour within the investment industry? 

Investment activity is a powerful driving force of the global economy. Investment signals value. Where are we investing and in what? With whom? Who manages the money, and for what? What is this achieving in the real world? 

It’s important to remember that underneath all this is people - with individuals taking financial decisions which shape our world. Organisational culture directly informs how these individuals decide to select and manage investments, and ultimately how successfully impact, risk and return outcomes are achieved.

Culture is not a “nice to have”. Companies and investors are having to deal with rising complexity, crises and uncertainty. Any organisation ignoring culture is not set up well to deal with these challenges or serve its stakeholders. 

Why did you decide to sit on the ACT Stewardship Council and what does it mean to you  personally? 

ACT is an opportunity to help shape a better financial system, rooted in fairness, access and opportunity for all.  That means better practices, behaviours and mindsets. As an impact investor, inclusion, fairness and access also means recognising that value is created by the many and not the few. 

We’ve been able to benefit from aligning with the ACT Standard of Corporate Culture, for example in the design of our new Net Zero and DEI engagement initiative. But more personally, as a mixed-race CEO in the investment management industry, I hope this initiative helps open doors to greater diversity in the industry, in every aspect.