Membership Directory - Individual
Seonaid Mackenzie
Founder & Managing Partner at Sturgeon Ventures
About
Bio: Seonaid Mackenzie Seonaid’s career spans over 40 years in financial services, beginning as a stockbroker for multiple American firms, and then as fund manager of a family office and VCs, an operator of UK funds, fund raising for private companies and funds and multiple advisory positions to financial service firms and SMEs.
Seonaid is known in the industry as an out-of-the-box strategic thinker and the innovator of Regulatory Incubation and the wholesale use of the Appointed Representative, now used by Financial Services throughout the UK.
Seonaid founded Sturgeon Ventures as a "single family office" in 1998. In 2001, Sturgeon became the pioneer of Regulatory Hosting, coining the phrase "Regulatory Incubator" for financial services (also known as “Regulatory Umbrella”). In 2013, Sturgeon became a registered investment advisor with the SEC, and in 2014, a sub threshold AIFM (Alternative Investment Fund Manager), migrating in 2016 to an EU VECA management firm. Seonaid later founded The Sturgeon Group trading as Sturgeon Compliance Services as a compliance and regulatory solutions business.
Since this business model began, Sturgeon has incubated over 200 financial services start ups, supported numerous approved persons and assisted in setting up a number of funds in Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Cayman, and the Channel Islands. Clients include emerging managers, third party fund raisers, corporate finance advisors and family offices.
Out of hours, Seonaid is passionate about diversity speaking regularly at schools on careers in financial services. Seonaid is a Trustee at Crosslight Advice a charity helping those that are marginalised struggling with debt. Seonaid is a member of the Silver Swans, and is regularly seen on The Thames Path walking her cocker spaniel.
Seonaid is known in the industry as an out-of-the-box strategic thinker and the innovator of Regulatory Incubation and the wholesale use of the Appointed Representative, now used by Financial Services throughout the UK.
Seonaid founded Sturgeon Ventures as a "single family office" in 1998. In 2001, Sturgeon became the pioneer of Regulatory Hosting, coining the phrase "Regulatory Incubator" for financial services (also known as “Regulatory Umbrella”). In 2013, Sturgeon became a registered investment advisor with the SEC, and in 2014, a sub threshold AIFM (Alternative Investment Fund Manager), migrating in 2016 to an EU VECA management firm. Seonaid later founded The Sturgeon Group trading as Sturgeon Compliance Services as a compliance and regulatory solutions business.
Since this business model began, Sturgeon has incubated over 200 financial services start ups, supported numerous approved persons and assisted in setting up a number of funds in Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Cayman, and the Channel Islands. Clients include emerging managers, third party fund raisers, corporate finance advisors and family offices.
Out of hours, Seonaid is passionate about diversity speaking regularly at schools on careers in financial services. Seonaid is a Trustee at Crosslight Advice a charity helping those that are marginalised struggling with debt. Seonaid is a member of the Silver Swans, and is regularly seen on The Thames Path walking her cocker spaniel.
Seonaid Mackenzie has personally raised money for several charities over the past years many with a focus on mental health and in later years suicide, Seonaid had a foundation for sometime called The Wellness Fund Foundation focused on tools helping those that self harm.
Seonaid comments:
"We continue to focus our team with diversity at its heart and have had a female team predominantly since inception all with flexible hours working from home, pre-pandemic this was very rare. I believe diversity in the workplace is about acceptance and looking at flexibility of work/life balance. I am proud that I have allowed for more than two decades for this to occur. I believe kindness and open heart is the way we live our lives in and out of work."