Membership Directory - Individual
Helena Morrissey
Chair at Diversity Project
About
Bio: Helena is Chair of the Diversity Project, a cross-business initiative that seeks to transform and modernise the culture within asset management and to attract a new generation of diverse talent to the sector. She also founded the 30% Club in 2010 which achieved its original goal of at least 30% women on UK company boards in 2018. The 30% Club is now an international movement focusing on helping more women achieve their career potential.
Helena was CEO of Newton Investment Management for fifteen years, taking its assets under management from £20bn to £50bn. She then joined Legal and General Investment Management where she spearheaded the launch of the UK's first gender-lens equity fund. Helena is now a board director at FTSE-100 company St. James's Place.
Helena has been named one of Fortune magazine's World's 50 Greatest Leaders', was the Financial Times' 2017 Person of the Year' and recognised for her Outstanding Contribution to Business' at the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards in 2018. She was appointed a Dame in the Queen's 2017 Birthday Honours list.
Helena is a Philosophy graduate. She and her husband Richard have nine children and two grandchildren and have launched a podcast on family life. Her first book A Good Time to be a Girl' was names one of Forbes' five most empowering books for women in 2018.
She comments: "I've been lucky enough to have strong male allies in my career who've really helped me succeed in a sector that's often described as a man's world'. Stewart Newton, the founder of Newton Investment Management, championed difference way before it was fashionable - and that included sticking up for me, reminding critics (who perhaps didn't like the fact that I had a lot of children) to look at my results and to judge me on those. His support went way beyond just passive approval - he actively championed me.
I firmly believe that we are all much more likely to be great at what we do if you are comfortable and confident in our own skin. Authenticity is hugely valuable to businesses and so important to individuals - both their happiness and their career success. It's therefore central to my whole approach to do everything I can to encourage people to embrace, not hide their differences".
Helena was CEO of Newton Investment Management for fifteen years, taking its assets under management from £20bn to £50bn. She then joined Legal and General Investment Management where she spearheaded the launch of the UK's first gender-lens equity fund. Helena is now a board director at FTSE-100 company St. James's Place.
Helena has been named one of Fortune magazine's World's 50 Greatest Leaders', was the Financial Times' 2017 Person of the Year' and recognised for her Outstanding Contribution to Business' at the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards in 2018. She was appointed a Dame in the Queen's 2017 Birthday Honours list.
Helena is a Philosophy graduate. She and her husband Richard have nine children and two grandchildren and have launched a podcast on family life. Her first book A Good Time to be a Girl' was names one of Forbes' five most empowering books for women in 2018.
She comments: "I've been lucky enough to have strong male allies in my career who've really helped me succeed in a sector that's often described as a man's world'. Stewart Newton, the founder of Newton Investment Management, championed difference way before it was fashionable - and that included sticking up for me, reminding critics (who perhaps didn't like the fact that I had a lot of children) to look at my results and to judge me on those. His support went way beyond just passive approval - he actively championed me.
I firmly believe that we are all much more likely to be great at what we do if you are comfortable and confident in our own skin. Authenticity is hugely valuable to businesses and so important to individuals - both their happiness and their career success. It's therefore central to my whole approach to do everything I can to encourage people to embrace, not hide their differences".