London, England, United Kingdom
I currently divide my time between consultancy work in the financial sector and my interests in the non-for-profit world most notably music. After 30+ years in investment banking and institutional asset management I have provided strategic and governance advice to number of asset managers (hedge funds & long only) and family offices on how to manage and grow their respective businesses. As Jim Ware (Focus Consulting Group) argues and I believe, the best firms have a combination of “good process (hard skills) and good relationships (soft skills)”. Combine these elements with the right team, high levels of trust and purpose and a firm can compete successfully in most markets. My deep interest in people originates from my training as a classical musician which taught both the importance of working together and wanting to communicate through sharing concepts and ideas. I have a particular interest in North America partly because of the organisations I have worked for, but also because over the last 30 years I have travelled to virtually every corner of this amazing place and now live there for about 4 months each year. I sit on the investment advisory committee for a Family Office fund managed by Cazenove Wealth Management and am Chairman of the Benton Fletcher Advisory Committee for The National Trust.
The Committee provides advice to The National Trust on all aspects of the Benton Fletcher Collection which is one of the most important collections of early keyboard instruments in Europe. It is housed at Fenton House, Hampstead, London.
I have had the enormous privilege of serving on this Board for nine years, helping the musicians of the OAE run their band. My specific tasks have included chairing the Finance Committee, overseeing a major governance review and chairing the Transitional Planning Committee.
My brother and I owned and ran Olive during a period of significant change in the AV/Smart Home industry. We provided key technology solutions to home owners in the UK and beyond.
I joined TT with the express aim of helping grow the business which we did from $400m to a high of $24bn. As the second longest serving partner I was directly involved in all aspects of running the firm. We were particularly successful in North America where we managed assets for some of the most prestigious institutional investors in the fund management market place.
Singing in and conducting choirs was an important part of my education, not only musically, but also in terms of understanding the importance of communication and team work. It was therefore a pleasure to serve as a Trustee and then Chair of this educationally focused organisation that does so much to get people singing.