St James’s Place has appointed Helena Morrissey to its board just over a month after she announced her exit from Legal & General Investment Management.
Morrissey (pictured) becomes a non-executive director at the £112.8bn wealth manager from 1 January 2020.
In a regulatory filing announcing her appointment, published on Thursday afternoon, she described SJP as “a huge success story” and touted its “excellent service to its clients”.
Morrissey announced she was stepping down as head of personal investing at LGIM at the start of October stating: “I see a changing Britain and have a lot of ideas and other things that I want to achieve.”
In September, she was interviewed to replace Mark Carney as the governor at the Bank of England, although her appointment at SJP suggests it is not a role she will take on.
SJP chair Iain Cornish praised Morrissey’s insight into investment management and experience of running a major asset management company. She was chief executive of Newton Investment Management from 2001 to 2016, having joined the company, now part of BNY Investment Management, in 1984.
“As I said earlier this year, attracting and developing a diverse range of talent at St James’s Place is a priority for the board,” Cornish said. “While I am pleased that Helena’s appointment takes the proportion of women on our board to a third, there is always more to do in relation to inclusion and diversity across the business, and we will continue to make progress on this.”
Morrissey founded the 30% Club in 2010 in an effort to make boardrooms at least 30% female. She is also chair of the Diversity Project.
She said: “The board’s strategic priorities include continuing to improve important matters such as culture, inclusion and diversity, and I look forward to using the experience and insights I have gained throughout my career to help the company do this.”
While CEO at Newton, she was also chair of the Investment Association. Since 2015, she has been a member of the chancellor’s financial services trade and investment board. She was also a non-executive director of the Takeover Panel from 2014 to 2017.
