The world's largest listed hedge fund is getting its first female CEO in 240 years
Man Group today announced that its next CEO will be Robin Grew, currently its president. Grew will thus become the first woman ever to lead the UK-based asset manager since it was founded in 1783. She will take over from Luke Ellis, the current CEO, when he retires in September.
Earlier this year, Man Group had also announced that Anne Wade will take over as chair of the board of directors in late 2023. Wade, who has been a non-executive director at Man Group since April 2020 and worked for 17 years in research and equity investment at Capital International, will take over from John Cryan, the current chair.
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The two appointments mean that Man Group, which manages $144.7 billion in assets, mostly for institutional investors, will soo be run by two women—in an industry that remains one of the most male-dominated in business. Within financial services institutions globally in 2021, women held 21% of board seats, 19% of C-suite roles, and 5% of CEO positions, according to data from Deloitte. An IG Prime survey last year of hedge funds in the UK, Switzerland, Australia, Singapore, and the UAE showed that only 14.5% of senior management roles were filled by women.
The Man Group began in the sugar business, making casks for the commodity, and expanding into trading in rum, sugar, and coffee during the 1700s and 1800s. It diversified into financial services in the 1980s, which came to dominate its business, and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994. In 2002 it took on the sponsorship of the Booker Prize, and in 2005 of the International Booker Prize, attaching its name to these prestigious literary awards until 2019, when funding ceased.
Who is Robyn Grew, Man Group’s incoming CEO?
Grew was born in Essex, in the UK, and will be relocating back to the UK from New York for her upcoming role. She will continue to spend a substantial proportion of her time in the US, according to Man Group’s announcement. Grew studied business law at Coventry University, and became a lawyer in London, before moving into finance.
Grew has worked at Lehman Brothers, Barclays Capital, and LIFFE, the largest futures and options exchange in London, since renamed ICE Futures Europe. She has spent time based in Tokyo, New York, and London. She joined Man Group in 2009 and has overseen trading and execution, and acted as group COO, head of ESG, and general counsel, as well as leading the firm’s diversity drive, the release said.
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