Helena Morrissey, Baroness Morrissey

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

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

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

Early life

Morrissey was born in Bowdon, Cheshire, in 1966.[2] She grew up in Alverstoke near Portsmouth,[3] and was educated at Bishop Luffa School.[2][4] Both of her parents were teachers.[4] She studied philosophy at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.[2][4]

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[5] as a fixed income fund manager.[6][7] Morrissey became Newton's chief executive;[5] as of 2015, it manages £47 billion of assets.[8] Morrissey left Newton Investment Management in 2016.[9] She has been on the board of Legal & General Investment Management and St James's Place.[10]

In July 2021, Morrissey joined the board of AJ Bell, before becoming chair in January 2022.[11] Morrissey announced in September 2022 that she was resigning as chair of the Board.[12][13]

All Perspectives Ltd, the company behind the GB News television and radio news channel, gained the Baroness as a director in November 2022.[14]

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.[15]

Honours

In 2016, Morrissey was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Cambridge.[16]

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.[17][18]

On 3 September 2020, she was created Baroness Morrissey, of Chapel Green in the Royal County of Berkshire. On 28 September 2020, she made her maiden speech in the Lords.[19]

Personal life

Baroness 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.[5][20][21] They met whilst studying at Cambridge and live in Notting Hill, London.[4][22]

Other activities

Morrissey is the author of a book, A Good Time to be a Girl (Harper Collins, 2018). She was the guest on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs on Sunday 22 March 2020.

Morrissey was criticised in 2021 after she tweeted that there was no current pandemic, and "CCP fake videos started this".[23]

In October 2021 her second book, Style and Substance, a Career Guide for Women who want to Win at Work, was published by Little, Brown Books.

References
  1. "HELENA LOUISE MORRISSEY – LONDON – CHIEF EXEC OFFICER, NEWTON". Checkcompany.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  2. Bawden, Tom (21 January 2011). "Friday interview: City superwoman fights for boardroom equality". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  3. Donnellan, Aimee. "City's MRS Brexit sees a buying opportunity in the vote to leave".
  4. Hodge, Gavanndra (25 February 2016). "Mega-mum mega-fund manager: Helena Morrissey". Tatler. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  5. Jardine, Cassandra (17 October 2011). "Helena Morrissey: 'I thought we'd stop at five children'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  6. "Meet the management group". Newton. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  7. Jones, Sarah (12 August 2016). "Helena Morrissey Steps Down From Newton CEO Role After 15 Years". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  8. "About us". Newton. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  9. Elder, Bryce (19 March 2021). "AJ Bell and Helena Morrissey: opposites attract". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  10. "Morrissey quits SJP to become chair at AJ Bell". FT Adviser. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  11. Editor, Patrick Hosking, Financial. "Helena Morrissey leaving St James's Place to chair rival's board". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 28 September 2022. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. "Helena Morrissey quits as AJ Bell chair after FCA blocks board role for founder". Financial Times. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  13. Howard, Tom. "Helena Morrissey quits AJ Bell over succession debacle". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  14. "All Perspectives Ltd people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  15. 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.
  16. "Helena Morrissey: University Honorary Degree" (PDF). Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Summer 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  17. "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 8.
  18. "No. 61962". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2017. p. B7.
  19. "Baroness Morrissey". UK Parliament. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  20. Radnor, Abigail (3 February 2018). "Helena Morrissey: 'We have nine children. I plan every day on a whiteboard'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  21. 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.
  22. Hattersley, Giles (20 January 2018). "Trading Up: City Of London's High-Flying Female Execs". Vogue. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  23. "Tory peer denied pandemic exists and blamed Chinese 'fake videos'". The Independent. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
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