"One thing I like about how we do things is we don’t have a big shiny tower block office in London, we are in the regions. I myself am peripatetic in terms of where I work, visiting the different offices, and I live in Wilshire.”
But while acquisitions are on the agenda, she says there is an agreement that none will happen in 2024 as she first seeks to integrate previous deals.
While the aim is to grow all three business units, she does not anticipate launching more funds within that part of the business, instead trying to grow the three funds they have.
Hawksmoor is owned by Hurst Point, and backed by private equity firm Carlyle. She says there was originally a target to grow AUM by a certain year, but that target has been put on hold since the pandemic.
Having begun her career in financial services in the 1980s, she says things have “changed somewhat”, but notes that only 12 per cent of fund managers are women, and only 16 per cent of investment managers.
Future priorities
Of her own experience she says: “It is probably easier for a female investment manager than fund manager, because an investment manager has relationships with individual clients that can be preserved.
"But I think the biggest thing that helped me was that I lived in Wiltshire. I took three months leave with each of my children. But living in the town, [even when back at work I was] five minutes from the school and ten minutes from home, that makes it easier to manage. A woman working in the City of London might find that more difficult.
"I was talking to a female colleague recently, she has young children. I couldn’t believe the cost of childcare. It’s a real issue.”
She is also keen to see “greater diversity of background” among wealth managers.
Soar’s view is the industry has featured “a lot of people with double barrelled surnames and the right school background, often their job is not much more than to stay in touch with their school friends from privileged backgrounds. But the reality is, there are many children from less advantaged backgrounds that are as clever, or more clever.
"The thing is, apart from being more clever, people from less privileged backgrounds have the advantage that they can probably relate well to people who are self-made. Some of the clients who worked hard and made their own money, they might find the double-barrelled name and knowing 'which spoon to eat the soup with' culture a little intimidating.”
Her view is that schools should have compulsory financial education, including explanations of what a stockbroker is, and other financial terms.
She says many people of less privileged backgrounds that become wealth or fund managers “tend to have started in back office roles, which applies much less to those of more privileged backgrounds and so acts as a deterrent.”
