Simon has enjoyed a career spanning over 40 years in the asset management industry.
He spent 17 years as Chief Executive and Executive Chairman of Threadneedle Investments, where he was responsible for leading the firm in its transformation from small manager of in-house insurance assets to an international asset manager. During his time, he increased assets under management from £22bn to over £100bn.
Simon was a founder and Chairman of the Cofunds investment platform, which became one of the UK’s largest adviser platforms, and was taken over by Legal & General in 2013, then sold to Aegon in 2016. He has held numerous other Directorships within the financial services industry. Simon was a Non-Executive Director at adviser network Intrinsic, and subsequently a Non-Executive Director at Skandia / Old Mutual Wealth, where he chaired the remuneration committee. He was a Non-Executive Director at LCH Clearnet, the multi-asset class and multi-national clearing house owned by the London Stock Exchange Group. He also Chaired the Investment Management Association.
In 2013, Simon assisted the founders in setting up Square Mile, the investment, consulting and research company. He served as Chairman until their sale to Titan Wealth Holdings in 2023.
Simon has built up an extensive Venture Capital portfolio over the years and is an advocate of the value of VC within a diversified portfolio.