We are delighted to announce that one of our most active Fellows in the SMF Alumni, Anne Richards, Chief Investment Officer at Aberdeen Asset Management, has been named CBE in the New Year Honours List. This is in recognition of her outstanding work in the financial services sector as well as her voluntary work.

Anne began her career as a research fellow at CERN, moving into the investment world in 1992 after completing her MBA at INSEAD as a Sainsbury Management Fellow. Her career has included research analysis, portfolio management and global asset allocation.

Anne was named one of the Financial News 100 Women in Finance in 2012, was Funds Europe Awards’ European Chief Investment Officer also in 2012 and is a member of the Board of Leaders of 2020 Women on Boards. She also holds a number of non-executive positions, including the insurance company esure, the University of Edinburgh, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Duchy of Lancaster. She is also a member of the UK Digital Skills Task Force.

Anne graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh and worked as a software engineer for several years before looking to make the move into business management. She credits SMF as the key enabler to her journey from “backroom to boardroom”. Anne commented, “I could not have made the transition to managing portfolios and global asset allocation without taking an MBA, which gave me the necessary management tools. The Sainsbury Management Fellows’ scheme facilitated that critical step up and gave me the confidence to lead.”

For highlights of Anne’s outstanding career achievements, read her story in Engineering New Horizons (pages 38-39).

Follow Anne on Twitter @AnneRichards16
LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/annerichards1/
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