Wealth specialist Shelley Doorey-Williams joins Sionic in London

Shelley Doorey-Williams has joined Sionic’s London team following a 13-year spell with UBS. Most recently, she held the role of Head of Wealth Planning UK and Jersey with the firm.

Sionic is a global consulting firm, focused on change and specialising in a unique blend of business and people performance for financial services. The firm is based in more than a dozen locations worldwide, including North America, Europe and Asia, while continuing to expand at pace.

The latest development in this regard sees Sionic expand its portfolio of specialist financial services with the appointment of Shelley Doorey-Williams, one of banking’s best-known wealth specialists. Formerly Head of Wealth Planning, Europe, Middle East and Africa at UBS and Deputy Head of Investment Platforms & Solutions (IPS) UK & Jersey, Doorey-Williams’ career in general management and governance also spans oil and gas, broadcast media, fast-moving consumer goods and telecoms.

Before joining UBS in 2006, she ran her own company providing advice on employee share plans.

Doorey-Williams joins as a Partner to head up Sionic’s new specialist corporate governance team. She takes up the position at a time when many financial institutions continue to face scrutiny for their political and economic roles in a number of global crises.

Explaining the importance of her work via a LinkedIn video for the firm, Doorey-Williams said, “Corporate governance plays a very important role in making sure that organisations are controlled and operated in the way they should be – and in the way people expect them to be. That’s how trust can be rebuilt… I think there are some global challenges that the financial services industry faces, but there are also opportunities.”

She continued, “If we think of society at large at the moment, we have some global challenges; from climate change to sustainability, and the financial services industry can be a huge force for good, for positive change, if we can pull together… It is making investment decisions on behalf of individuals, organisations and institutions every single day, and they can literally put their money where their mouth is by making decisions that are actually for human good, by investing in organisations that have positive change agendas, and directing finance away from organisations unwilling to play a role in that.”

Sionic’s specialist corporate governance team is part of the firm’s wealth management and private banking practice, which is led by Sionic Managing Partner Gilly Green. Commenting on Doorey-Williams’ arrival, Green said she was “delighted” she had decided to lead the growth of Sionic’s new range of specialist services around corporate governance and board effectiveness.

“Shelley is a sector-leading expert in her field,” Green added. “Her experience and background in this area, as well as the wider landscape of wealth management, significantly adds to the capabilities of our rapidly expanding team. As the industry embraces significant change and evolution, there is growing demand for our consulting expertise from clients worldwide - and being able to draw leading industry experts like Shelley into the team gives us a major edge.”

Elswhere in Sionic’s UK and Jersey wing, the firm’s expansion campaign saw Paddy Lewis also arrive from UBS Management in late 2019. He took up the position of Partner in Sionic’s wealth management and private banking Practice, based out of London. Commanding more than three decades of experience, Sionic believes Lewis is well-placed to advise firms on a broad range of topics affecting both larger private banks and smaller wealth management organisations.