Mum on a mission to make high finance more diverse

A MUM of nine who is a leading figure in Britain’s financial services was horrified by allegations of sexual harassment at the now notorious President’s Club dinner.

There was outrage across the country at claims that hostesses were groped at the black-tie charity fundraiser in London attended by wealthy individuals.

Dame Helena Morrissey decided it was time for a very different type of dinner – one which would celebrate diversity in business while still raising cash for charities that can make a difference to people’s lives.

Next month rugby legend Gareth Thomas will be the guest speaker at the “Diverse City” gala held at Cardiff’s National Museum.

Ms Morrissey, who has six daughters, said she had not heard of the President’s Club before the accounts of lurid behaviour surfaced at the start of the year. As someone who has been at the forefront of efforts to get women on company boards, she does not want people to shun careers in finance because there are still “pockets of bad behaviour”.

Instead, she wants to send out the message that it is “possible to be moral and work in the City”.

She is now Legal & General’s head of personal investing in the UK, having previously been chief executive of Newton Investment Management. The philosophy graduate set up the 30% Club, which aims to ensure at least three in 10 people on boards are women, and chairs the Diversity Project, which promotes a more inclusive culture in the highpressure world of investment and savings.

These efforts have pushed her into the spotlight. Tatler magazine described her as a “mega-mum” for her success in raising her nine children while managing multi-billionpound assets.

She advises fellow parents to seek out “allies” and “mentors” as they navigate the challenges of family and working life.

“The most important thing is to not imagine it’s a sign of weakness when you ask for help,” she said. “All of us have challenges. Every career is a labyrinth, not a ladder, I think.”

She finds it “hard to switch off” so does pilates to clear her head because it is “so difficult that I end up not being able to think about anything else”.

She admits that when she started her career finance was a “pretty hostile” environment in which you “did have to have very thick skin” but she insists things have changed.

The financial crisis, she argues, was a trigger for companies to introduce a more professional and inclusive culture.

She said: “Obviously we wish we hadn’t had the financial crisis but it’s one of the silver linings that it really did jolt people, even the people who had been very resistant to change.”

It is time, she says, to “seize this moment” and “complete the task”.

In her experience, she says, men and women often approach business in different ways.

“I would tend to lead through building a consensus and trying to connect and be empathetic, understand where the other person is coming from,” she said. “And some of the men that I’ve known have tended to rather be more command and control.

“I think we need both. You need strong decision-making and you need to bring people with you.”

Her husband worked as a financial journalist but then decided to go freelance and stay at home with the arrival of their fourth child.

Ms Morrissey believes there is much that mums and dads can do to help daughters succeed in business.

She said: “The most important thing is that inclusion begins at home, making sure that they don’t have an environment where they grow up thinking, ‘This is what the men do and this is what the women do.’”

The Cardiff dinner is on June 27. All proceeds from table sales will go directly to charities. A table of 10 costs £4,500 plus VAT and can be booked via lgimevents@lgim.com