I was born in Edgbaston but at the age of two moved to Epsom where I went to school. Both my parents were in the medical profession and had worked in many different locations and it was their international perspective that gave me a passion for looking at the world through a diverse lens.
After school I went to York University to read Economics, but on graduating decided I was not ready for a desk and joined the Army. After serving in Northern Ireland and Berlin, I decided the time was right to pursue a financial career. I joined a small asset management firm in the marketing department, where I did everything from stuffing envelopes, to cold calling prospective clients. Once there, it became clear to me that what I really wanted to be was a fund manager, and after a year I was fortunate enough to be offered a job at Kleinwort Benson, as an assistant portfolio manger in the private client department.
I spent twenty years with the firm going through three mergers and eventually ended up as Chief Investment Officer for Dresdner RCM Global Investors in San Francisco. After a 4th merger I decided the role was becoming more political than practical, and decided to return to London. I joined a small New York based investment firm, with the aim of building a team to manage concentrated global investment portfolios. However, after doing that for three years I found myself once again on my travels, taking over as CEO of the firm in New York just as the global financial crisis hit. Having weathered the storm we sold the business to Alliance Bernstein and I reverted to being a global equity portfolio manager based in London.
I stayed with Alliance Bernstein for nearly 10 years before i retired from full time work. I now consult to the firm on talent management focusing on coaching, mentoring and leadership training. In this role i have spent much more time on a number of diversity issues, notably gender equality and mental health awareness. More recently I have become involved with the Diversity Project focusing on the Veterans workstream.
I have been happily married for 37 years and am lucky enough to have two fabulous daughters. I enjoy most sporting activities and participate actively in sailing, skiing and golf, albeit on a very amateur basis, particularly now as my joints no long seem willing to do everything asked of them. One of the joys of retirement is that I have time to travel and unlike the journey’s I undertook for work I can now spend some time as a traveler rather than a tourist, spending time with people to better understand some of the challenges they face but also to see some of the ways we can promote a more inclusive and diverse culture.