Sionic installs Mark Humphries as Chairman 'for next growth phase'
Global financial services consultancy Sionic has named Mark Humphries as its new Chairman. Humphries succeeds Tony Solway following his two years in the position.
A Chartered Accountant by background, Mark Humphries is a well-known figure in UK’s management consulting scene. After starting his career at PwC in its Corporate Finance wing, he then went on to co-found focused Catalyst Corporate Finance, which he helped grow to become one of the UK’s largest mid-market corporate finance firms during his thirteen years with the company.
More recently, Humphries served as CEO of Huntswood, a resourcing and consultancy firm focused on governance, risk and compliance in the areas of regulatory conduct and financial crime within the financial services and energy sectors. In recent years, he served as a senior advisor and non-executive board member at consultancies Baringa and Temple Grange Partners, and currently also is Chairman at digital-led consultancy Vendigital.
Leveraging his track record in the industry and experience with fast-paced growth within private equity backed firms [similarly to Vendigital, Sionic is backed by Livingbridge], Humphries has been tasked with helping Sionic accelerate its strategic ambition.
According to Sionic’s CEO Craig Sher the firm’s ambition is “to become the pre-eminent supplier of business, operations and people development services to the world’s leading banks and financial institutions.” Formed by the merger between US-based Sionic Advisors and UK-based Catalyst, Sionic currently has around 300 staff operating from offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
The award-winning firm is dedicated to the financial services industry, working mainly for corporate, investment and private banks; clearing houses and exchanges; asset and wealth managers, hedge and fund administrators, and insurers, as well as private equity groups with portfolio companies in the sector.
“We’re determined to become a truly world-leading firm and Mark is exactly the person to help us step up the pace. I fully expect him to push us to exceed even our own expectations and I’m really excited to be working with him,” said Sher.
Commenting on his new role, Humphries said, “The Chairman should be a strategic accelerant. I believe that is about three things: a clear strategy, a sharp commercial focus and ensuring that people can be their absolute best selves at work. Sionic is an energising prospect across all those dimensions. It has an enviable client base, a strong global leadership team and outstanding talent across the firm. It also has a track record of first-class delivery, with a unique blend of people development skills as well as technical domain expertise. Most of all, it has the will to succeed. I can’t wait to get started.”
Mark Humphries succeeds Tony Solway, who held the role of Chairman for the past two years.