Finance and Investment Committee
About the Finance and Investment Committee
The Finance and Investment Committee oversees the preparation and monitoring of the Institute’s budget on behalf of the Governing Body.
This work includes advising on the number and value of our biomedical research grants each year.
The Committee’s other main role is monitoring the Lister Institute’s investments and maintaining regular contact with our two investment managers, Cazenove Capital and Partners Capital LLP, who each have responsibility for the day-to-day management of one half of the total portfolio.
The Lister Institute’s Finance and Investment Committee ensures that we remain financially sustainable and independent, giving us the freedom to support the development of a high quality biomedical research environment in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Mr Murray Legg, BSc, FCA
Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance and Investment Committee
Murray is a chartered accountant who spent 35 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers until retiring in 2013. As a partner with PwC he held a variety of senior management, governance and client facing roles auditing and advising large UK listed and unlisted companies. He was a member of the PwC international network’s Global Governance Board, and he also served on the PwC UK firm’s governance body. Murray is non executive chairman of GlobalData plc and previously chaired its audit committee. Until October 2024
he was a non executive director and audit committee chair of SES Water.
Professor Sir John Iredale, BM (Hons), DM, FRCP (Lond), FRCP (Ed), FMedSci, FRSE, MAE
Chairman
John took on the role of Chairman of the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine in 2022. He is currently holds the Chair of Experimental Medicine at the University of Bristol. From Jan 2022-Oct 2023 he was seconded to UKRI where he acted as the interim Executive Chair of the MRC, prior to this he was Pro Vice-Chancellor for Health and Life Sciences in Bristol. His research interests are focused on tissue scarring and regeneration and he has published extensively on these subjects. Professor Sir Iredale was, in the past, the Regius Chair of Medical Science, Dean of Clinical Medicine and Vice Principal Health Services at the University of Edinburgh where he led the Medical School.
The members of the Finance and Investment Committee are:
Professor Judith Armitage, PhD, FRS, University of Oxford
Judy is a bacterial physiologist, with a particular interest in bacterial movement. After a PhD then Lister Fellowship from UCL she moved to the Biochemistry Department at University of Oxford. She was Associate Head of Microbiology and Director of the Systems Biology Centre. She is a member of EMBO, a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the European Academy of Microbiology and the Royal Society, where she sits on the Council. She is currently President of the Microbiology Society.
The Hon Rory Guinness BA, FCIM, representative of Lord Iveagh
Rory currently chairman of the Iveagh Trust and has a background in investment management at senior level. He wrote “The World of Guinness” and regularly speaks on matters to do with the history of the family, the brewery and philanthropy. He also sits on the Boards of St Patrick’s Cathedral, The European Movement Ireland and Rory Guinness Experiences, which provides visitors to the British Isles with unique experiences.
Mr Stephen McMahon, MA (Oxon), FCA, FCSI
Stephen is a Director of ARC Group and is responsible for the company’s Jersey office. After reading Economics & Management at Oxford University, Stephen qualified as an accountant with Pricewaterhouse Coopers in London before joining the Bank of England, where he reviewed operations in the Economic and Financial Markets divisions of the central bank. Stephen is a Chartered Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAEW) and the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI).
Mr Matthew Pintus, BA
Matthew is a solicitor. He was a partner for many years at Macfarlanes, the Institute’s lawyers, and now works as an independent consultant for families in the UK and elsewhere, giving general advice including advice on their charitable activities.
Mrs Jennifer Smithson, BA
Jennifer has been a partner in the Private Client department at Macfarlanes, the Institute’s lawyers, since 2014, having qualified as a solicitor in 2005. She read Law with Law Studies in Europe at Oxford University, spending one year at Paris Assas. Jennifer specialises in advising on cross border estate and wealth planning. Prior to becoming a solicitor, Jennifer spent six years working in authorial rights and TV and film distribution.
Professor Rosalind Smyth, CBE, FMedSci, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Rosalind Smyth is Professor of Child Health at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. She was Director of this Institute from 2012-22 and is currently Vice-Dean (Research) in the UCL Faculty of Population Health Sciences. She was awarded CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List in 2015 for services to the regulation of medicines for children.