10 Acquisition International - Influential Businesswoman Awards 2023 May23292 Corporate Reporting Specialist of the Year 2023 (London): Chloe Marlow Gravis Capital Management Ltd is a UK based fund management and investment advisory firm. It has a specific focus on investments in long-term projects that offer a human dimension, investing in assets that will be needed for many years to come, such as renewable energy generation and social and economic infrastructure. It is a fierce promoter of responsible investment and driving positive change. stablished in 2008, the fund management and investment advisory service Gravis Capital Management Ltd (Gravis) is a business that promotes responsible investing, allowing it the opportunity to drive positive change. Its Director of Investor Reporting is Chloe Marlow, an award-winning finance professional with a broad range of experience within the sector. She joined Gravis in 2013, when it was something of a boutique investment house, with just ten staff members, six of whom were the company founders. Since then, the company has grown to over 50 staff and an AUM of over £3bn today. Gravis began as an entrepreneurial organisation, which set out to create investment products that were radically different, steady and long term. The company’s success and significant growth in a short space of time resulted in substantial structural change, and in 2020, the business was sold to the ORIX Corporation, moving from a founder-led business to one that was management-led. Chloe feels fortunate to have been part of this success story, as it is through this growth that Gravis has been able to make a tangible impact through responsible investing, with assets that generate green energy and social infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. At the company level, it has incorporated many environmental, social and governance (‘ESG’) initiatives including hosting internships to provide opportunities to those who normally wouldn’t have access to the industry at grassroots level. As the Director of Investor Reporting, Chloe has a role that comprises corporate reporting for the FTSE 250/350 listed companies, and the ESG reporting for the business. She is also an integral member of the Responsible Investment committee. Under Chloe’s stewardship, Gravis publishes two annual and interim reports a year for its investment funds, with the aim of ensuring every report produced is to best-in-class standards. Chloe feels that in recent years the quality of reports being published across the industry has improved significantly, with people taking more pride over reporting while finding new and interesting ways to present company data. Gravis also publishes an annual Responsible Investment report, detailing how its business activities impact positively on the environment and on society. This can be found on the company website and details its responsible investing activities and the bigger picture regarding sustainability and its work with charities and the community. The business world is changing for the better in many ways. For example, when Chloe first entered the investment management E industry there were very few women on company boards. Thankfully, this has changed significantly over the past few years with 40% of directors on FTSE 100 boards and 39% on FTSE 250 boards now female. Chloe is of the opinion that such an increase in diversity should be celebrated but it is a shame that it has taken so long to affect this change. The boards of the Gravis funds are between 40 and 50% gender diverse. Although Chloe agrees that there is still some way left to go in terms of achieving true gender equality within the investment industry, it is tremendously positive to be able to acknowledge that times are finally changing. There are also some great initiatives in place now, such as the Future Female Fund Managers Programme, facilitating welcome change. Change is happening but progress is not optimum yet, with still only 11% of fund managers in the industry being women in 2023. The investment industry can be frustratingly slow to move at times, something particularly noticeable at industry events where the attendance, reflecting the current demographics, is predominantly male. Chloe feels that more needs to be done both at the grassroots level to help young women access the same opportunities as young men within existing investment organisations, and to make the sector more appealing to women in general. Gravis is a member of the 100 women in Finance initiative, it participates in the 10,000 black interns’ scheme and runs various initiatives for women across the organisation. As the recently announced winner of Corporate Reporting Specialist of the Year 2023 (London): Chloe Marlow, it is interesting to be able to find out a little more about this worthy winner’s background. It turns out, it is not one of educational privilege, rather Chloe attended a “We all have a responsibility to promote a culture of acceptance and inclusion. Diversity is something that should be celebrated and not used as a way to divide us. Without diversity life would be very dull.”
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