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Helena Morrissey, Baroness Morrissey

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The Right Honourable
The Baroness Morrissey
DBE
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 September 2020
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born
Helena Louise Atkins

(1966-03-22) 22 March 1966 (age 58)
Bowdon, Cheshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Richard Morrissey
​
(m. 1990)​
Children9, including Flo Morrissey
EducationBishop Luffa School
Alma materFitzwilliam College, Cambridge
OccupationBanker

Helena Louise Morrissey, Baroness Morrissey, DBE (née Atkins; 22 March 1966)[1] is a British financier and campaigner.

Early life

Morrissey was born in Bowdon, Cheshire in 1966.[2] She grew up near Chichester, and was educated at Bishop Luffa School.[2][3] Both of her parents were teachers.[3] She studied philosophy at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.[2][3]

Career

Morrissey began her career at the New York and London bond desks at Schroders. Finding her career path blocked there, she moved to Newton Investment Management in the early 1990s[4] as a fixed income fund manager.[5][6] Morrissey became Newton's chief executive;[4] as of 2015, it manages £47 billion of assets.[7]

Campaigns

In 2010, Morrissey established the 30% Club to campaign for greater female representation on company boards. She is a trustee at the Eve Appeal, which raises money for gynaecological cancers, and she is a former chairperson of the corporate board of the Royal Academy of Arts.[8] She is also chair of the advisory board for The Five Foundation, the Global Partnership To End FGM, co-founded by Nimco Ali and Brendan Wynne.

Honours

In 2016, Morrissey was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Cambridge.[9]

Morrissey was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to UK business and promoted Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to diversity in financial services.[10][11]

On 3 September 2020 she was created Baroness Morrissey, of Chapel Green in the Royal County of Berkshire. on 28th September 2020, she made her maiden speech in the Lords. [12]

Personal life

Morrissey and her husband, Richard, a former financial journalist and stay-at-home dad, are the parents of nine children, three boys and six girls, one of whom is musician Flo Morrissey.[4][13][14] They met whilst studying at Cambridge and live in Notting Hill, London.[3][15]

Other

Morrissey is the author of a book, 'A Good Time to be a Girl ' (Harper Collins, 2018). The blurb runs: "In A Good Time to be a Girl, Helena Morrissey sets out how we might achieve the next big breakthrough towards a truly inclusive modern society. Drawing on her experience as a City CEO, mother of nine, and founder of the influential 30% Club which campaigns for gender-balanced UK company boards, her manifesto for new ways of working, living, loving and raising families is for everyone, not just women. Making a powerful case for diversity and difference in any workplace, she shows how, together, we can develop smarter thinking and broader definitions of success. Gender balance, in her view, is an essential driver of economic prosperity and part of the solution to the many problems we face today. Her approach is not aimed merely at training a few more women in working practices that have outlived their usefulness. Instead, this book sets out a way to reinvent the game – not at the expense of men but in ways that are right and relevant for a digital age. It is a powerful guide to success for us all."

She was the guest on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs on Sunday 22 March 2020.

References

  1. ^ "HELENA LOUISE MORRISSEY – LONDON – CHIEF EXEC OFFICER, NEWTON". Checkcompany.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Bawden, Tom (21 January 2011). "Friday interview: City superwoman fights for boardroom equality". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Hodge, Gavanndra (25 February 2016). "Mega-mum mega-fund manager: Helena Morrissey". Tatler. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Jardine, Cassandra (17 October 2011). "Helena Morrissey: 'I thought we'd stop at five children'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Meet the management group". Newton. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  6. ^ Jones, Sarah (12 August 2016). "Helena Morrissey Steps Down From Newton CEO Role After 15 Years". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  7. ^ "About us". Newton. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  8. ^ Lewis, Helen (27 March 2015). "Helena Morrissey: 'If I was doing it for a popularity contest, I probably wouldn't say anything'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  9. ^ "Helena Morrissey: University Honorary Degree" (PDF). Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Summer 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  10. ^ "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 8.
  11. ^ "No. 61962". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2017. p. B7.
  12. ^ "Baroness Morrissey". UK Parliament. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  13. ^ Radnor, Abigail (3 February 2018). "Helena Morrissey: 'We have nine children. I plan every day on a whiteboard'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  14. ^ Urbi, Jaden (25 June 2018). "One of the most powerful women in finance oversees nearly $1 trillion – and also has 9 kids". CNBC. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  15. ^ Hattersley, Giles (20 January 2018). "Trading Up: City Of London's High-Flying Female Execs". Vogue. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
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