When Sapphire Partners was founded in 2005, we set out to change the landscape in business leadership by helping organisations find exceptional, diverse talent for executive and non-executive roles.
We have worked with listed organisations, private firms and public bodies in the UK and internationally, bringing forward candidates with different voices and perspectives. Here are some examples of our work....
Executive placements
Male
Female
14% ethnically diverse placements
Non-executive placements
Male
Female
18% ethnically diverse placements
Investment trusts
Male
Female
20% ethnically diverse placements over the last 3 years
When retained by LSEG’s FTSE100 financial markets infrastructure business, Sapphire Partners conducted a search for a new Group Head of Government Relations & Regulatory Strategy.
Result: Sapphire Partners helped recruit an experienced female executive with international exposure and a long career in investment banking.
Sapphire partnered with Lloyd’s – the world's largest and oldest insurance and reinsurance market - in its search for a Chief of Markets reporting to the CEO.
Result: We placed an experienced CEO/COO in the role. The candidate brought a wealth of experience across key strands of the insurance sector, latterly as MD of a division of Aviva.
Newton Investment Management manages funds in excess of £46 billion for its clients. The company retained Sapphire Partners for support recruiting a new CEO at a critical juncture in its journey.
Result: We identified and recommended a seasoned investment management CEO with a background as an investor and relevant experience across leading financial institutions.
Social Finance is a not-for-profit consultancy with a mission to solve challenging social issues in the UK and abroad by partnering with government, philanthropy, the voluntary sector and financial institutions. It needed a new CEO and turned to Sapphire Partners for assistance.
Result: A dynamic, ambitious former management consultant with a breadth of experience across relevant sectors including local government and the social sector moved up to lead the organisation.
A key organisation representing over 300 firms in Britain’s banking industry, UK Finance needed a new CEO and turned to Sapphire Partners.
Result: We helped UK Finance recruit a seasoned financial services CEO and board director into the role, who brought with them broad experience in leadership roles across UK banking.
Sapphire Partners was retained by HM Treasury’s specialist arms-length body on corporate finance and corporate governance to hire two Non-executive Directors.
Result: We helped place three exceptional Non-executive Directors who enhance the ethnic and gender balance of UKGI’s board. One came from an investment banking background and has led teams within global, blue-chip organisations across various regions. The second candidate brings expertise in debt capital markets within investment banking, and leadership across multiple geographies. The third a former global managing partner in a magic circle law firm.
Partnering with the UK subsidiary of the FTSE100 multinational insurer AIG, Sapphire helped the board search for a Non-executive Director with technological expertise to support it through an exciting period of digitisation.
Result: Sapphire Partners helped AIG recruit a female CIO/COO with experience in technology transformation across a breadth of businesses and sectors.
The FTS100-listed savings and investments firm was seeking a Senior Independent Director who could offer commercial leadership and strategic experience from a background in financial services. Sapphire Partners carried out the searches.
Result: In this role we placed an experienced female Non-executive Director and board advisor from a banking and equities background who also has NED experience in the insurance sector.
Rathbones Group is a FTSE250 UK investment and wealth manager that specialises in private clients, charities and trustees. Sapphire Partners was retained to search for its new Chair.
Result: The candidate we identified brought prior non-executive and Chair experience and had a background in investments and insurance alongside extensive commercial leadership expertise.
Sapphire partnered with the FTSE250 asset management firm Liontrust, which focuses on sustainable investment, when it needed a new Non-executive Director. The brief was to identify candidates with financial services experience, an understanding of listed entities and appreciation of the sustainable/ESG agenda that runs through Liontrust’s approach to business.
Result: We placed two female candidates with Non-Executive Director and Chair experience and an understanding of sustainable investing, with a breadth of perspectives across public and private sector board roles.
Sapphire Partners works with a significant number of investment trusts across a variety of sectors, regions, investment styles and asset classes.
This forms a meaningful part of our work. Ambitious, flexible boards partner with Sapphire to recruit candidates who are different and diverse, leveraging our extensive networks in the asset management industry.
Recent successes include:
1. We helped a technology-focused FTSE250 investment trust place a Non-Executive Director/Senior Independent Director with experience as a Global Head of Equities and and as a Non-Executive Director with an investment trust. This was one of a number of repeat clients with whom we worked again in 2022, placing a gender and ethnically diverse Non-Executive Director with a corporate finance and corporate development background.
2. Partnering with a global FTSE250 trust with a bias towards value investing, Sapphire placed a Non-Executive Director with an investment banking, in-house CFO and international operations background. In a second mandate, Sapphire has recently placed a further Non-Executive Director with a background in investment management.
3. When a China-focused FTSE250 investment trust wanted a full board refresh over a three-year period, it turned to Sapphire Partners. We placed an Audit Chair with a private equity and valuations background; a Non-Executive Director with specific regional experience; a Non-Executive Director with experience in Asian investing; and a Non-Executive Director with experience of marketing financial services in the region. The incoming talent materially rebalanced the ethnic and gender diversity of our client’s board.
4. Sapphire Partners helped recruit a female and ethnically diverse Audit Chair Non-Executive Director with a FTSE250-listed infrastructure trust.
5. We placed a female and ethnically diverse Non-Executive Director with a capital markets and corporate finance background with a UK commercial real estate trust. This resulted in follow-on work which involved placing a male Audit Chair elect with accounting and consultancy experience.
