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Jenny Knott was recognized for Excellence in Information Services at the 2016 Women in Finance Markets Choice Awards.

Describe the highlights of your career to date and your current role/responsibilities?

I was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the PTRI (post trade risk and information) division and member of the ICAP Global Executive Management Group in August 2015. My career in financial services spans nearly 30 years and includes Standard Bank Group, where I held a variety of roles including the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Bank Plc and CIB International, Global Corporate and Investment Banking Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to this, I worked at Nomura, UBS, Paine Webber and Swiss Bank Corporation.

In my 15 months at ICAP, I have focused on developing a client-focused PTRI strategy by aligning PTRI’s unique portfolio of complementary businesses and leveraging its enriched data and network capabilities.

What do you — and by extension your team — do to achieve Excellence in Information Services?

Shortly after I joined ICAP we established a Technology Lab focussing on the development and use cases of emerging technology and information solutions. The lab has been a great success evidenced by the distributed ledger proof of technology (POT) completed on 26 February 2016. The POT leveraged the multi asset messaging and matching Harmony network, and Blockchain infrastructure provided by Axoni, to create a private, peer-to-peer, distributed ledger network using smart contracts. Building upon the successful POT, our leadership team is exploring the deployment of new technology to support its client-focused strategy. In addition to launching ICAP’s own distributed ledger solution, I led ICAP’s investment in Digital Asset Holdings LLC, a developer of Distributed Ledger Technology for the financial services industry. The investment was made through Euclid Opportunities, ICAP’s early stage fintech investment business which I oversee, as part of a $50 million funding round from a number of leading financial and market infrastructure participants.

What is your perspective on being a successful woman working in financial markets, and what is your advice to those who may strive for this?

Being decisive is critical, having the courage to trust my instincts and invest time to understand the facts to make informed decisions, always cognisant of the implications, is critical to success. To do this robustly one must learn to listen and to learn. My guidance to younger women coming in to the industry is don’t worry about the title of the role! Learn learn learn. Listen listen listen. Inner confidence and a positive inclusive approach are critical to a successful career. Always influence through consultation. If you don’t feel valued or of value, move onwards and upwards! Embrace change and look for the positive.