Interview
I don’t think my gender has ever had an impact on my career and it certainly hasn’t held me back
FACT FILE Name: Sheila Dean Age: 46 Position: Global CEO, Equiom Group Married to: Jonny Children: Ollie, 13 Hobbies: Keeping fit Interesting fact: I absolutely love Russian history
pressure on the business, although we do plan these projects well, resource accordingly and most of the time, things go smoothly. A number of fiduciary companies have either made acquisitions or opened offices in the Far East in recent years – Equiom bought AFP Group in Hong Kong at the start of 2015. Why? And what is the strategy? We’ve always viewed Asia as a key market as part of the company’s ambitious growth plans but, as with all of our acquisitions, we had to find the right business, with the right people, to blend with the overall culture that we promote throughout the company. With AFP Global, we knew that Roddy Sage [Executive Chairman of Equiom Hong Kong] and his team would bring that ‘can do’ culture that Equiom has, as well as the huge experience that we needed with our first Asian acquisition. The strategy in Asia mirrors the strategy for the rest of the Group, in that we continue to follow the twin-track method of acquisitional and organic growth, within clearly identified markets. At BL, we often hear about the lack of suitable skilled staff in small jurisdictions such as the crown dependencies. What’s your take on this? And, indeed, how should it be dealt with? It’s a problem that needs to be addressed – particularly in the Channel Islands, where strict employment and
housing restrictions are in place to limit the size of the population. If these rules aren’t going to be relaxed, the islands need to focus more on education and training locally to attract young people to return beyond graduation and make the islands less dependent on immigration. At Equiom, we wholeheartedly support training, exams and external courses – it’s important that our staff are qualified and continually develop in the area of the business in which they work. We’ve also trialled a new programme where we employ school leavers as Assistant Administrators within the Client Services team, providing ‘roots up’ experience. They’ve also been given the opportunity to sit exams, which will help with their professional development and career progression. Where do you stand on the subject of the lack of senior women in business? Is too much attention given to it? Is there a danger of promoting women purely based on gender as opposed to merit? Yes, it’s something that’s talked about a great deal, but, if I’m absolutely honest, this ‘issue’ has never really been apparent to me. Many of the businesses I deal with employ women in senior positions. Likewise, there are several women occupying board positions at Equiom. Personally, I don’t think my gender has ever had an impact on my career and it certainly hasn’t held me back. I’d like to think that I’ve achieved what I have because of my skills and experience, rather than my gender, and I’ve never had any negative (or otherwise) experiences as a result of being female. n NICK KIRBY is Editor-in-Chief of BL magazine
www.blglobal.co.uk january/february 2016 19