Dame Elizabeth Corley, the chair of asset management giant Schroders, is joining the board of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) – a move which puts her in a strong position to take the helm there in the coming years.
Sky News has learnt that LSEG plans to announce later on Friday that Dame Elizabeth will become a non-executive director of the company.
While there is no process underway to find a successor to Don Robert, who has chaired LSEG since May 2019, people close to the exchange-owner speculated that she would be an obvious candidate to do so.
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One fund manager also suggested that her dual roles on the boards of Schroders and LSEG could raise questions about potential conflicts of interest given that Schroders is itself listed on the LSE and is a significant user of its services.
That idea was rejected by insiders at LSEG on Friday morning.
The issue of leadership succession at LSEG is coming into sharper focus for investors because David Schwimmer, its chief executive, has led the company since 2018.
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Leading shareholders are likely to prefer the appointment of a new chair ahead of Mr Schwimmer’s eventual departure.
LSEG now has a market capitalisation of over £60bn, with the London bourse representing only a small proportion of its income.
The exchange is facing searching questions about its ability to attract new flotation candidates, with those doubts likely to be exacerbated by this week’s reports that Shein, the Chinese-founded online fashion giant, is switching its focus to a listing in Hong Kong.
LSEG declined to comment.