NICKNAMED "Katherine the Great", she forged a formidable reputation as a woman who managed to combine motherhood with earning a fortune in the City. Now Katherine Garrett-Cox has set herself apart from the growing breed of "superwomen" who juggle a family and career, taking her place as one of the most powerful business leaders in Scotland.
Mrs Garrett-Cox has been appointed chief executive of Alliance Trust – the Dundee investment and financial services group, which manages assets of about £2.6 billion.
Quickly making a name for herself as a trailblazing fund manager, she was
lured to the company to take up the role of chief investment officer with a £700,000 "golden hello" that dwarfed her boss's salary. Just 15 months into the move, she will take over his job.
She is one of a handful of women to get to the top in the male-dominated investment industry. Although the company has not disclosed her new salary, last year she earned £191,000, with an annual bonus of £87,000.
A fiercely independent mother-of-four, she has a hectic life trying to square the circle of parenthood and high finance.
Making the move north in May 2007, she raised a few eyebrows in the City when she quit her job as chief investment officer at Morley, to move to the investment "backwater" of Dundee. Insiders say she is mildly irritated by her "supermum" image, preferring to concentrate on her achievements as a businesswoman, first and foremost.
"She is a very successful person in her own right, whether she is a mother or not," said a City source. "People need to recognise that she has been appointed chief executive because she is that good."
Referring to her dual role as a working mother, the 40-year-old once said: "I've only been able to achieve what I have because of people who support me. Superwoman? I laugh that one off."
A history graduate from Durham University, she is reported to have said her investment strategy included "avoiding companies run by men with beards or too much jewellery".
She became familiar with Scotland through her marriage to the ING investment banker and part-time bass guitarist Jeremy Garrett-Cox, whose family come from Stirlingshire.
Despite accusations of "selling out" after leaving the City, friends say she is delighted to have left London behind her, preferring the Brechin countryside as a base for her family.
Alex Montgomery, partner with Turcan Connell asset managers, described her as a "very capable individual".
"Although she's not that old, she is a very experienced person and has held a number of senior positions. She has been referred to as Katherine the Great and she has a strong media profile.
"There are not many Scottish FTSE 100 companies and she's the head of one of them. If that's the yardstick, she must be one of Scotland's most influential business leaders."
The full article contains 501 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
