One of the leading members of the LGBTQ+ community has just landed the top job at giant hedge fund Man Group.
Robyn Grew, 54, will take over as chief executive of the $150 billion business, replacing the retiring Luke Ellis in September.
Man Group earlier said that the next chair will be Anne Wade, who will succeed City grandee John Cryan later this year. That means the firm will be led by two women for the first time in its history.
Ellis, 60, is a highly regarded City player closely associated with the growth of Man. He is one of the best paid fund managers, getting $11.3 million (£9.1 million) last year.
Grew’s salary will be closely watched for evidence that it is comparable. She joined Man Group in 2010 as chief compliance officer after previous roles at LIFFE and Barclays Capital.
She will relocate to London from the US in time.
Ellis, CEO since September 2016, said: "It has been a privilege to be CEO of Man Group and it is easy to want to stay on forever when you are leading such a great team of people. However, I feel that now is the right time to pass the reins to the next custodian of this firm and having worked with Robyn for well over a decade I could not be more thrilled at her appointment.”
Grew said the job is an “honour”. She has been outspoken on the need for financial services to recruit from a wider pool of talent.
She told Financial News in January: “When I made that move into finance in 1994, hedge funds in London seemed to have this ‘masters of Mayfair’ reputation, a rather caricatured image of a group of men in a room shouting on the phone (and at each other), and making big, risky bets. It didn’t put me off at the time — I was used to working in environments largely populated by men, especially at a senior level — nor did it turn out to be the reality.”
Credit Suisse said in a note: “Mr Ellis is well regarded and his retirement may be seen as a blow by many investors. But Ms Grew is a continuity candidate with experience including solutions, trading, execution and as group COO.”
Ellis warned last month that the banking crisis sparked by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is far from over. He said: “I think we will have significantly more banks that don’t exist in 12-24 months.”
Man Group shares rose 1p to 209p.
