Insights
Stonehage Fleming XV: Exceptional, intelligent women with that certain energy you find in natural leaders
Meet the SFXV judges: Chris Merry
Why launch an initiative like Stonehage Fleming XV?
Women are a hugely important part of the Stonehenge Fleming community: our clients, staff, professional partners and advisers alike. The main reason for launching an initiative like Stonehage Fleming XV (SFXV) is to let them know this and to amplify women’s voices in our community.
Despite the fact that an ever increasing proportion of wealth is in the hands of women, for too long, the wealth management industry has been a male-oriented space. Men vastly outnumber women in senior positions within the industry and indeed on client lists. Our aim is to attract more women into both our client base and our workforce. In recognising and celebrating successful women entrepreneurs and leaders, SFXV is a key part of that.
What will be the value of the SFXV network?
One of the perennial challenges of working at the top level in business is finding likeminded people to share your experiences with. Many of our clients tell us they value opportunities to connect with others in situations similar to their own. With SFXV, we hope to do just this: bring together people who haven’t yet appeared on each other’s radars. All UK-based entrepreneurs and wealth creators, we believe the SFXV’s support for each other will be as important as our support of them.
What do you hope to get out of the experience of being a judge?
I am looking forward to it very much. A great believer in the listening opportunities that networks provide, I relish the chance to understand who is out there. I am interested in what the candidates do and what drives them but also what interests them about a company like Stonehage Fleming. The output will inform the strategy around our client offer and serve as a window onto how to make our business open to all.
Why should business people consider their social, cultural and intellectual impact?
For the SFXV, financial success is a given but it is only one of four criteria against which candidates will be judged. Intellectual, social and cultural capital will be given equal importance due to their role in shoring up any long-term legacy. The same is true of those families who successfully grow and preserve their wealth across multiple generations. Their success relies on the recognition that their responsibilities go far beyond the financial. Expressing social capital by giving back to the communities you work in or tending to an organisation’s cultural capital by valuing and nurturing the people who work for you contribute to the all-important sense of a wider purpose. Finally, those business leaders who are able to translate their ideas into something tangible will bring their people along with them. That intellectual capital is something the successful SFXV candidates will have in spades.
What traits are you looking for in SFXV candidates?
Exceptional, intelligent women who demonstrate that certain energy you find in natural leaders. Obvious as it may sound, we are going to see successful women who have had to work harder than their male counterparts to achieve their success. In that respect I think we will find that extra two miles in our candidates: people who, throughout the building of their businesses, have given their all and then some.
Chris Merry is Group CEO of Stonehage Fleming