PwC promotes Ed Stacey and appoints Fiona Carpenter
As clients prepare to meet with changing technological and regulatory landscapes, PwC has expanded its legal and asset management practices. The firm has promoted Ed Stacey to the leadership of its multi-disciplinary legal service, as well as appointed Fiona Carpenter to the role of Partner and lead for PwC’s EMEA asset management practice.
Ed Stacey joined PwC in 2001 as a Director. In 2009, he was promoted to Partner in the firm’s legal services business – which today includes 17 partners and around 350 team-members – taking on the position of head of employment law practice in 2012. He was previously a solicitor at the Royal Bank of Scotland for two years, following a year in the same role at Theodore Goddard. He completed a Bachelors of Law at the University of Exeter, before completing two years of solicitor training at CMS Cameron McKenna.
Stacey’s new role at the firm sees him take responsibility for the firm’s multi-disciplinary legal service, as well as lead the firm’s employment law team. Among other duties, his new role will see him continue to drive compliance efforts to meet the firm’s gender pay gap reporting requirements – which are part of wider efforts to curb inequalities within the corporate realm in the UK and abroad.
Commenting on his appointment, Stacey said, “I’m delighted to be asked to lead our growing multi-disciplinary legal service. We have seen exceptional growth across our business in recent years and I am looking forward to leading the next phase of our growth plans. Our aim remains to focus on those areas that complement the services PwC provides more broadly to give our clients holistic, innovative business solutions to their issues. We will remain committed to building a diverse, national team of lawyers with opportunities to achieve flexibility for both them and our clients in how we deliver our services.”
Fiona Carpenter, meanwhile, has returned to PwC, having begun her career in consulting there almost 20 years ago. Carpenter arrives from Big Four competitors EY, where she was a Partner at the consulting firm for the past four years, as well as the EMEIA Head of Hedge Funds. She was previously the CFO of TT International, a boutique asset manager, where she worked for three years, while earlier roles include Tax Partner at EY for almost eight years. Those roles followed her initial stint with PwC, which began in 1998, and saw her become an Executive at the firm before leaving in 2002.
She holds a Master of Science in International and Corporate Finance from Durham University, and has also served as an elected member of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) Council.
Carpenter joins PwC’s financial services tax practice as a Partner and lead for the firm’s EMEA asset management practice. The role sees her focus largely on supporting the firm’s alternative managers and funds clients with tax structuring and compliance issues – in what is an increasingly complex area, in light or Brexit and wider global tax related structural issues.
Commenting on the appointment, Stuart Higgins, UK financial services tax leader at PwC, said, “We’re delighted to welcome Fiona to the team. Her breadth of experience will enable us to continue helping our asset management clients navigate the many opportunities and challenges they face, from Brexit to ongoing regulatory and technology changes.”
Reflecting on her new role, Carpenter said, “It’s fantastic to become a part of such a strong team and a firm which is investing in its capabilities in the asset management market. This is a pivotal time for the asset management industry as profound changes are taking place and it is assuming a leading role in the global financial services arena.”
