Katherine Garrett-Cox

Katherine Lucy Garrett-Cox CBE (born November 1967) is a British business executive. She is CEO of Alliance Trust, a FTSE 250 publicly traded investment and financial services company, headquartered in Dundee, Scotland.

Early life

Katherine Lucy Garrett-Cox was born in November 1967. She studied History at Durham University, graduating with a BA degree in 1999.

Career

Garrett-Cox joined Alliance Trust as Chief Investment Officer in 2007, becoming CEO on 29 August 2008.

In October 2015, a row with activist investors Elliott Advisors resulted in Garrett-Cox stepping down from the Alliance Trust board. The activist investors argued that the company's performance had been poor and that changes to the board were necessary. This row was slightly offset in April 2015 when Alliance agreed to appoint two of the three board member candidates recommended by Elliott, however ultimately, an agreement was in place to review the board situation in Autumn 2015. Garrett-Cox still occupies the position of chief executive at Alliance, and this move puts her back in a fund management role rather than a role running the wider business.

She is a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank.

Personal life

Garrett-Cox's husband Jeremy is Scottish, and they have four children together. They live in rural Angus.

Honours and awards

In 2014, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), "For services to the Asset Management Industry and charitable service through the Baring Foundation."