Schroders appoints 2 execs to board
Schroders has appointed two executives to its global leadership team, having appointed a new CEO earlier this month.
Chief investment officer Johanna Kyrklund will join the board and she will also have responsibility for how the public markets business invests across equities, fixed income and multi-asset, and in its investment performance.
Kyrklund joined Schroders in 2007 to lead the UK multi-asset business and took on the group CIO role in 2019. During her tenure leading the multi-asset team, assets rose from £22 billion ($42 billion) of assets under management when she joined to £192.3 billion at 30 June 2024.
Meanwhile, Meagan Burnett has replaced Richard Oldfield, who has taken up the global CEO role, as chief financial officer. She previously held the role of group chief operating officer. She joined Schroders last January from M&G Investments as deputy group chief operating officer before taking the senior role in August 2023.
Both appointments will be effective from 1 January 2025, subject to regulatory approval.
Oldfield said: “My initial priority is to build on strong foundations, and focus on simplification, commercial discipline and flawless execution, which will accelerate our transition to growth. We must remain relevant to clients while driving shareholder value through disciplined capital allocation and enterprise-wide collaboration.
“Their combined experience and investment insights, as well as their financial and business acumen, will be invaluable.”
Earlier this month, the firm appointed Oldfield to the CEO role from 8 November 2024. He will replace Peter Harrison after eight years in the role. Oldfield was named as a director and chief financial officer at Schroders in October 2023, having previously spent years at PwC.
As a result, Burnett will take on her CFO role in an interim capacity from that date until her formal appointment.
Last week, Money Management explored the transition of individuals from CFO to CEO and the different skill sets that the two jobs require.
Reflecting on the switch between the two roles, Mischa Bennett, managing director at recruitment firm Capital Executive Search, said: “The CEO role is almost exclusively about making strategic decisions, it’s quite different to a CFO role and it is a leap to move from a CFO to a CEO. The CFO would need to be incredibly commercial. Usually, a CFO is tucked away in accounts too deeply to be commercial.”
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Laura Dew
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