
Imagine a tobacco-free world.
Let’s start with tobacco-free finance.
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Tobacco Free Portfolios is an accomplished team of medical doctors, ethics experts and sustainable finance professionals, located in three different key financial markets and actively working across more than twenty countries. Working collaboratively with finance leaders – spanning banking, insurance, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset management and rating agencies – the Tobacco Free Portfolios team puts tobacco-free finance on the agenda. Tobacco exclusions are increasingly considered a fundamental step on the journey to integrate sustainability, responsibility and transparency into the fabric of mainstream business. In the process, a new bridge is being built between the health and finance sectors and a novel approach to bring an end to the world’s greatest cause of preventable death, is being embraced.
Tobacco Free Portfolios is an accomplished team of medical doctors, ethics experts and sustainable finance professionals with a global reach. Working collaboratively with finance leaders – spanning banking, insurance, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset management and rating agencies – the Tobacco Free Portfolios team has put tobacco-free finance on the agenda across Europe.
Tobacco exclusions are increasingly accepted as a fundamental cornerstone and step on the journey to integrate sustainability, responsibility and transparency into the fabric of mainstream business. In the process, new bridges have been built between the health and finance sectors, and a novel approach to bring an end to the world’s greatest cause of preventable death, is being embraced.
The European finance sector has led in implementing tobacco-free finance, with some of the world’s largest pension funds, banks, insurers and asset managers celebrating the global health benefits and positive financial outcomes of a tobacco-free position.
Financial institutions across the USA are rapidly expanding offerings of sustainability-aligned products, as unprecedented demand surges. Sustainability is now entrenched as a material issue in corporate boardrooms, where frameworks are being drafted, tested and refined. Tobacco-free finance is a crucial step on this journey.

Dr Bronwyn King AO, MBBS, FRANZCR – Founder, Director and CEOFounder, Director and CEO
Dr. Bronwyn King AO began her medical career working as a doctor on the lung cancer ward at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. While doing her best to treat her patients (many of whom had started smoking in childhood) Dr King observed first-hand the truly devastating impact of tobacco - many deaths and much suffering. She was unaware that at the very same time she was investing in Big Tobacco via her compulsory superannuation (pension) fund. Tobacco Free Portfolios was set up in response to that uncomfortable discovery. Since then, Dr King has assembled an accomplished team that has been instrumental in advancing the switch to tobacco-free finance across the globe. Her 2017 TEDxSydney talk on tobacco-free finance has been viewed more than three million times.

Ms Rebecca E. Brown, CFP® – USA DirectorUSA Director
Rebecca serves as USA Director for Tobacco Free Portfolios and is responsible for collaborating with organizations to forward the work of tobacco-free finance across the United States. Previously, Rebecca worked for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, LLC (CRM), a boutique asset manager, as Director of Marketing and Client Service for over 16 years. There she was responsible for both institutional and high net worth client service, marketing, and business development. Importantly, she led the firm’s responsible investing efforts including drafting and oversight of its policies and procedures. She also successfully advocated for CRM to become a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2017 and the firm’s formal exclusion of tobacco from its investment portfolios in 2019.

Ms Clare Payne – Director of CommunicationsDirector of Communications
Clare advises businesses and leaders on ethics, good governance and trust. She is a former employment lawyer who managed the integrity office of Macquarie Bank and founded The Banking and Finance Oath, a Hippocratic-type oath for those in finance. Prior to the global financial crisis, Clare’s paper titled, ‘Ethics or Bust’ was awarded the inaugural Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize by the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva. Clare then went on to co-author, A Matter of Trust - The Practice of Ethics in Finance (2018).

Ms Dontaleisha Smith – Partnerships & Fundraising ManagerPartnerships & Fundraising Manager
After receiving an undergraduate degree from Howard University, an interest in community and resource development, particularly for communities of color, led Dontaleisha to pursue further education and solutions for marginalized populations. She holds a Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in Community Organizing, Administration & Policy. In the past 5 years, Dontaleisha has advanced her career by providing fundraising consultation to over 100 non-profits nationwide through the use of technology and planned events. In 2020, she co-created an employee led initiative designed to provide free fundraising technology to organizations addressing the most pressing racial and social justice issues. In addition to her work with Tobacco Free Portfolios, Dontaleisha is a financial literacy coach for individuals and families focusing on economic advancement and long term investing.

Ms Alaine Gee – Events ManagerEvents Manager
Alaine is a Certified Meeting Professional with the Events Industry Council and is a member of Meeting Planners International formerly serving as the Emerging Leaders Chair. In her role at MPI, Alaine mentored and created educational programs for the next generation of meeting and event planners. While pursuing her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Oregon, Alaine served as a peer health educator and as a member of the Campus Health Action on Tobacco. Alaine is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at Southern Oregon University concentrating on Healthcare Administration and Policy.

Ms Lisa Nicolaou – Executive AssistantExecutive Assistant
Lisa has extensive administrative skills and experience, primarily in travel, tourism and public health in both Australia and the UK. Lisa first worked with Dr King over a decade ago, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, where she supported the Radiation Oncology specialists. Lisa clearly remembers the day in 2010 when Dr King had ‘the conversation’ with her superannuation fund and discovered that she was unwittingly investing her money in tobacco.

Mr Han Yik – Pledge Champion – USA/AmericasPledge Champion - USA/Americas
Han was formerly the Head of Institutional Investors at the World Economic Forum, where he worked with the senior leadership of the world's largest asset owners (sovereign wealth funds and government pension funds) and with top government officials from across the globe on issues around long-term investing as well as providing strategic guidance on initiatives involving public-private cooperation. He has written articles and reports on various investment topics and led the Forum’s initiative on Global Retirement Investment Systems Reform, addressing the challenges of the global pension crisis, receiving extensive press coverage from media outlets such as Bloomberg, The Financial Times, Barron’s and others. In addition, he has been a keynote speaker at various global conferences, including the CIE Chairs & CEOs Symposium in Sydney, the Singapore Fintech Festival, the Global Asset Owner Series from the CFA Society of New York, the Asia Risk Congress, the Salesforce World Tour and CROSAPF and has led roundtables for asset owners and investors during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. Previously, Han was a Senior Institutional Portfolio Strategist and Head of Institutional Thought Leadership at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he managed $2.5 billion (USD) in multi-asset class portfolios for BAML’s institutional client base.

Ms Gail Hurley – Pledge Champion, UK/EuropePledge Champion - UK/Europe
Gail worked for the United Nations Development Programme for 10 years as a Senior Policy Advisor on Development Finance in New York and has also held roles in the non-profit sector where she continues to serve in several Board and advisory roles. In addition to her position at Tobacco Free Portfolios, she is a Fellow with Development Initiatives, an international development organisation.

Mr Patricio V. Marquez – Pledge Champion – USA/AmericasPledge Champion - USA/Americas
Patricio is a former World Bank Group (WBG) Lead Public Health Specialist. He retired in August 2019 after 32 years of service, where he worked in over 80 countries across the world, and led the Global Tobacco Taxation Program and the Global Mental Health Initiative. In March 2020, he returned to the WBG as Consultant to support the preparation and implementation of the US$6 billion COVID-19 Global Emergency Response Program in the health sector and the implementation of the US$20 billion Additional Financing for COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination across the world, and was the co-author of the “Better Together: A Mental Health and Well-being Strategy for the World Bank Group”, which was launched in May 2022.

Dr Bronwyn King AO, MBBS, FRANZCR – Founder, Director and CEOFounder, Director and CEO
Dr. Bronwyn King AO began her medical career working as a doctor on the lung cancer ward at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. While doing her best to treat her patients (many of whom had started smoking in childhood) Dr King observed first-hand the truly devastating impact of tobacco - many deaths and much suffering. She was unaware that at the very same time she was investing in Big Tobacco via her compulsory superannuation (pension) fund. Tobacco Free Portfolios was set up in response to that uncomfortable discovery. Since then, Dr King has assembled an accomplished team that has been instrumental in advancing the switch to tobacco-free finance across the globe. Her 2017 TEDxSydney talk on tobacco-free finance has been viewed more than three million times.

Ms Rebecca E. Brown, CFP® – USA DirectorUSA Director
Rebecca serves as USA Director for Tobacco Free Portfolios and is responsible for collaborating with organizations to forward the work of tobacco-free finance across the United States. Previously, Rebecca worked for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, LLC (CRM), a boutique asset manager, as Director of Marketing and Client Service for over 16 years. There she was responsible for both institutional and high net worth client service, marketing, and business development. Importantly, she led the firm’s responsible investing efforts including drafting and oversight of its policies and procedures. She also successfully advocated for CRM to become a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2017 and the firm’s formal exclusion of tobacco from its investment portfolios in 2019.

Ms Clare Payne – Director of CommunicationsDirector of Communications
Clare advises businesses and leaders on ethics, good governance and trust. She is a former employment lawyer who managed the integrity office of Macquarie Bank and founded The Banking and Finance Oath, a Hippocratic-type oath for those in finance. Prior to the global financial crisis, Clare’s paper titled, ‘Ethics or Bust’ was awarded the inaugural Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize by the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva. Clare then went on to co-author, A Matter of Trust - The Practice of Ethics in Finance (2018).

Ms Gail Hurley – Pledge Champion, UK/EuropePledge Champion - UK/Europe
Gail worked for the United Nations Development Programme for 10 years as a Senior Policy Advisor on Development Finance in New York and has also held roles in the non-profit sector where she continues to serve in several Board and advisory roles. In addition to her position at Tobacco Free Portfolios, she is a Fellow with Development Initiatives, an international development organisation.

Ms Dontaleisha Smith – Partnerships & Fundraising ManagerPartnerships & Fundraising Manager
After receiving an undergraduate degree from Howard University, an interest in community and resource development, particularly for communities of color, led Dontaleisha to pursue further education and solutions for marginalized populations. She holds a Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in Community Organizing, Administration & Policy. In the past 5 years, Dontaleisha has advanced her career by providing fundraising consultation to over 100 non-profits nationwide through the use of technology and planned events. In 2020, she co-created an employee led initiative designed to provide free fundraising technology to organizations addressing the most pressing racial and social justice issues. In addition to her work with Tobacco Free Portfolios, Dontaleisha is a financial literacy coach for individuals and families focusing on economic advancement and long term investing.

Ms Alaine Gee – Events ManagerEvents Manager
Alaine is a Certified Meeting Professional with the Events Industry Council and is a member of Meeting Planners International formerly serving as the Emerging Leaders Chair. In her role at MPI, Alaine mentored and created educational programs for the next generation of meeting and event planners. While pursuing her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Oregon, Alaine served as a peer health educator and as a member of the Campus Health Action on Tobacco. Alaine is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at Southern Oregon University concentrating on Healthcare Administration and Policy.

Ms Lisa Nicolaou – Executive AssistantExecutive Assistant
Lisa has extensive administrative skills and experience, primarily in travel, tourism and public health in both Australia and the UK. Lisa first worked with Dr King over a decade ago, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, where she supported the Radiation Oncology specialists. Lisa clearly remembers the day in 2010 when Dr King had ‘the conversation’ with her superannuation fund and discovered that she was unwittingly investing her money in tobacco.

Mr Han Yik – Pledge Champion – USA/AmericasPledge Champion - USA/Americas
Han was formerly the Head of Institutional Investors at the World Economic Forum, where he worked with the senior leadership of the world's largest asset owners (sovereign wealth funds and government pension funds) and with top government officials from across the globe on issues around long-term investing as well as providing strategic guidance on initiatives involving public-private cooperation. He has written articles and reports on various investment topics and led the Forum’s initiative on Global Retirement Investment Systems Reform, addressing the challenges of the global pension crisis, receiving extensive press coverage from media outlets such as Bloomberg, The Financial Times, Barron’s and others. In addition, he has been a keynote speaker at various global conferences, including the CIE Chairs & CEOs Symposium in Sydney, the Singapore Fintech Festival, the Global Asset Owner Series from the CFA Society of New York, the Asia Risk Congress, the Salesforce World Tour and CROSAPF and has led roundtables for asset owners and investors during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. Previously, Han was a Senior Institutional Portfolio Strategist and Head of Institutional Thought Leadership at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he managed $2.5 billion (USD) in multi-asset class portfolios for BAML’s institutional client base.

Mr Patricio V. Marquez – Pledge Champion – USA/AmericasPledge Champion - USA/Americas
Patricio is a former World Bank Group (WBG) Lead Public Health Specialist. He retired in August 2019 after 32 years of service, where he worked in over 80 countries across the world, and led the Global Tobacco Taxation Program and the Global Mental Health Initiative. In March 2020, he returned to the WBG as Consultant to support the preparation and implementation of the US$6 billion COVID-19 Global Emergency Response Program in the health sector and the implementation of the US$20 billion Additional Financing for COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination across the world, and was the co-author of the “Better Together: A Mental Health and Well-being Strategy for the World Bank Group”, which was launched in May 2022.

Dr Bronwyn King AO, MBBS, FRANZCR – Founder, Director and CEOFounder, Director and CEO
Dr. Bronwyn King AO began her medical career working as a doctor on the lung cancer ward at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. While doing her best to treat her patients (many of whom had started smoking in childhood) Dr King observed first-hand the truly devastating impact of tobacco - many deaths and much suffering. She was unaware that at the very same time she was investing in Big Tobacco via her compulsory superannuation (pension) fund. Tobacco Free Portfolios was set up in response to that uncomfortable discovery. Since then, Dr King has assembled an accomplished team that has been instrumental in advancing the switch to tobacco-free finance across the globe. Her 2017 TEDxSydney talk on tobacco-free finance has been viewed more than three million times.

Ms Rebecca E. Brown, CFP® – USA DirectorUSA Director
Rebecca serves as USA Director for Tobacco Free Portfolios and is responsible for collaborating with organizations to forward the work of tobacco-free finance across the United States. Previously, Rebecca worked for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, LLC (CRM), a boutique asset manager, as Director of Marketing and Client Service for over 16 years. There she was responsible for both institutional and high net worth client service, marketing, and business development. Importantly, she led the firm’s responsible investing efforts including drafting and oversight of its policies and procedures. She also successfully advocated for CRM to become a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2017 and the firm’s formal exclusion of tobacco from its investment portfolios in 2019.

Ms Clare Payne – Director of CommunicationsDirector of Communications
Clare advises businesses and leaders on ethics, good governance and trust. She is a former employment lawyer who managed the integrity office of Macquarie Bank and founded The Banking and Finance Oath, a Hippocratic-type oath for those in finance. Prior to the global financial crisis, Clare’s paper titled, ‘Ethics or Bust’ was awarded the inaugural Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize by the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva. Clare then went on to co-author, A Matter of Trust - The Practice of Ethics in Finance (2018).

Ms Dontaleisha Smith – Partnerships & Fundraising ManagerPartnerships & Fundraising Manager
After receiving an undergraduate degree from Howard University, an interest in community and resource development, particularly for communities of color, led Dontaleisha to pursue further education and solutions for marginalized populations. She holds a Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in Community Organizing, Administration & Policy. In the past 5 years, Dontaleisha has advanced her career by providing fundraising consultation to over 100 non-profits nationwide through the use of technology and planned events. In 2020, she co-created an employee led initiative designed to provide free fundraising technology to organizations addressing the most pressing racial and social justice issues. In addition to her work with Tobacco Free Portfolios, Dontaleisha is a financial literacy coach for individuals and families focusing on economic advancement and long term investing.

Ms Alaine Gee – Events ManagerEvents Manager
Alaine is a Certified Meeting Professional with the Events Industry Council and is a member of Meeting Planners International formerly serving as the Emerging Leaders Chair. In her role at MPI, Alaine mentored and created educational programs for the next generation of meeting and event planners. While pursuing her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Oregon, Alaine served as a peer health educator and as a member of the Campus Health Action on Tobacco. Alaine is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at Southern Oregon University concentrating on Healthcare Administration and Policy.

Ms Lisa Nicolaou – Executive AssistantExecutive Assistant
Lisa has extensive administrative skills and experience, primarily in travel, tourism and public health in both Australia and the UK. Lisa first worked with Dr King over a decade ago, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, where she supported the Radiation Oncology specialists. Lisa clearly remembers the day in 2010 when Dr King had ‘the conversation’ with her superannuation fund and discovered that she was unwittingly investing her money in tobacco.

Mr Han Yik – Pledge Champion – USA/AmericasPledge Champion - USA/Americas
Han was formerly the Head of Institutional Investors at the World Economic Forum, where he worked with the senior leadership of the world's largest asset owners (sovereign wealth funds and government pension funds) and with top government officials from across the globe on issues around long-term investing as well as providing strategic guidance on initiatives involving public-private cooperation. He has written articles and reports on various investment topics and led the Forum’s initiative on Global Retirement Investment Systems Reform, addressing the challenges of the global pension crisis, receiving extensive press coverage from media outlets such as Bloomberg, The Financial Times, Barron’s and others. In addition, he has been a keynote speaker at various global conferences, including the CIE Chairs & CEOs Symposium in Sydney, the Singapore Fintech Festival, the Global Asset Owner Series from the CFA Society of New York, the Asia Risk Congress, the Salesforce World Tour and CROSAPF and has led roundtables for asset owners and investors during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. Previously, Han was a Senior Institutional Portfolio Strategist and Head of Institutional Thought Leadership at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he managed $2.5 billion (USD) in multi-asset class portfolios for BAML’s institutional client base.

Ms Gail Hurley – Pledge Champion, UK/EuropePledge Champion - UK/Europe
Gail worked for the United Nations Development Programme for 10 years as a Senior Policy Advisor on Development Finance in New York and has also held roles in the non-profit sector where she continues to serve in several Board and advisory roles. In addition to her position at Tobacco Free Portfolios, she is a Fellow with Development Initiatives, an international development organisation.

Mr Patricio V. Marquez – Pledge Champion – USA/AmericasPledge Champion - USA/Americas
Patricio is a former World Bank Group (WBG) Lead Public Health Specialist. He retired in August 2019 after 32 years of service, where he worked in over 80 countries across the world, and led the Global Tobacco Taxation Program and the Global Mental Health Initiative. In March 2020, he returned to the WBG as Consultant to support the preparation and implementation of the US$6 billion COVID-19 Global Emergency Response Program in the health sector and the implementation of the US$20 billion Additional Financing for COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination across the world, and was the co-author of the “Better Together: A Mental Health and Well-being Strategy for the World Bank Group”, which was launched in May 2022.
Our vision is for a world free from tobacco.
Our mission is to inform, prioritise and advance tobacco-free finance.
Board members
Global Advisory Council
Leaders in finance, health, government and philanthropy support Tobacco Free Portfolios through our Global Advisory Council.