The WFE's Women Leaders 2021 - Marion Leslie, Head Financial Information, SIX Group
Nominee’s name: Marion Leslie
Member: SIX Group
Nominee’s job title: Head Financial Information
- Brief description of nominee’s role/job:
Marion leads the SIX Financial Information global business across 20 countries and has group-wide responsibility for data & analytics. She leads an international team, with a strong focus on innovation and business growth, responsible for direct revenues of approximately US$ 400 million. She is a member of the executive board and sits on the Board of Directors Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME), Madrid. She is Chair or Member of the Board of Directors of various Group companies of SIX Group Ltd.
- Short bio (career highlights, education, interests/hobbies):
In January 2020, Marion Leslie assumed the role of Head Financial Information at SIX Group.
The British-Australian dual citizen moved from Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters) based in London, where she was appointed Managing Director Enterprise Business in 2016. In this position she was responsible for a significant flagship business of over US$ 800 million, delivering real-time data feeds, analytics, data management and distribution platforms to financial service customers globally. In prior roles, she has run global technology and cross asset content teams at scale, supported by 1,500 experts in 26 countries worldwide. Marion Leslie held a variety of executive roles within Thomson Reuters, which she joined in 1994. She gained international experience based in Bangalore as Executive Director, Board of Reuters India, where she established and developed a centre of excellence building it from scratch to over 2,000 employees, providing the foundation for the centre that supports over 5,000 employees today.
Marion Leslie holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Education in French and German from the University of Cambridge.
Awards
She was nominated by Financial News in the FN100 Most Influential Women in European Finance 2020, nominated in the Cranfield University Female FTSE 100 Women to Watch Board Report in 2017, and in 2014 was the winner of the Award for Achievement at the Women in Banking and Finance Awards.
Other Activities and Mandates
Chair or member of the Board of Directors of various Group companies of SIX Group Ltd
Member of the Board of Directors Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME), Madrid
Non-executive director and Vice Chair of the Board for the UK Hydrographic Office, Taunton, UK, Chair of the Remuneration Committee and Member of the Audit and Risk Committee
Trustee Prostate Cancer UK, London, UK, member of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee
Co-Chair of the EDM Council Women in Data Europe network.
Interests
Marion enjoys running and ran the London Marathon 2018 for Prostate Cancer UK. Since moving to Switzerland in January 2020, she has started to enjoy hiking and swimming in lakes – even in the winter! She has two children who acknowledge she is a poor cook.
3. - What were your professional highlights and challenges of 2020?:
Marion took on a new leadership role at SIX, moving to Switzerland in January 2020, driving the transformation of global financial markets through our financial information offering and SIX Group assets. Marion turned the business back to growth within one year, launching the business’ journey to cloud and creating award winning and differentiated products, such as SIX Taxscore and Sanctions services. She is leading a strategy for data and analytics across SIX Group.
Marion has put a focus on alternative data, especially ESG data, linked to core reference data to provide meaningful and actionable insight, and has developed new services, including ESG indices. Under Marion’s leadership, SIX Financial Information also serves as co-operator of the ANNA Service Bureau and successfully transitioned employees to homeworking, providing continuity of service to customers throughout the pandemic.
4. - What and who inspires/has inspired you to achieve your professional success:
I hold myself to high standards: a desire to do a great job, stand by my commitments, learn and find ways to improve performance. I always have a plan but keep an eye out for new opportunities not previously considered.
I am at my best when I am confronted by something entirely new that scares me slightly!
5. - What advice do you have for other women who aspire to be in leadership positions:
Put yourself out of your comfort zone, be willing to take risks, proactively seek opportunities to learn and do new things with new people. Put your hand up!