Diane is an experienced Non Executive Director and Chair with positions across the quoted Wealth and Asset Management, Asian Equity, Private Equity, Investment Services and VCT sectors. She is also a Partner of Acorn Capital Advisers, an independent adviser to family offices and families.
Her executive career in investment management included roles as CIO, CEO and portfolio manager with considerable international experience, particularly in Asia and across global, boutique and start-up businesses.
Currently Diane's roles include Non Executive Director of Brooks Macdonald Group PLC and, until recently, Chair of their Remuneration Committee. She is a Non-Executive Director of Standard Life Private Equity Trust PLC and PraxisIFM Group Limited. Her pro bono work includes serving as an Investment Committee Member of Newnham College, Cambridge.
Diane graduated from Cambridge University and holds a Master of Arts in Economics.
Diane Seymour-Williams’ Background
Acorn Capital Advisers
Director
Mar 2018 - Present
London, UK
Diane is a Director at Acorn Capital Advisers, an independent wealth management adviser to family offices and UHNWI.
Brooks Macdonald Group plc
Chairman, Remuneration Committee
Sep 2012 - Jul 2019
London, UK
Brooks Macdonald Group PLC was founded in 1991 and is an AIM listed wealth manager specialising in providing investment management services in the UK and internationally.
Diane worked for Morgan Grenfell/Deutsche Asset Management for over 23 years in both Singapore and London. Her last roles at the company were Head European Client Relationships and Head Global Equity Product.
PraxisIFM was established in 1972 and is an independent, owner-managed, group of companies. They provide a wide range of bespoke professional services to private individuals, families & international corporate clients.
As at June 2020, SEI manages or administers $1 trillion (811 billion GBP) in hedge, private equity, mutual fund and pooled or separately managed assets, including $318 billion (258 billion GBP) in assets under management and $693 billion (562 billion GBP) in client assets under administration. SEI is a public company and is listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol SEIC.
The Standard Life Private Equity Trust aims to achieve long-term returns through holding a diversified portfolio of private equity funds and direct investments, focusing on mid maket buy outs.
Brooks Macdonald Group plc
Non Executive Director
Sep 2011 - Present
London, UK
Diane is Non Executive Director of Brooks Macdonald Group plc and served as Chair of the Remuneration Committee for 6 years. The firm was founded in 1991 and is an AIM listed wealth manager.
Calculus Capital offer private equity investment opportunities with substantial tax advantages from the most experienced, award-winning, Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) Fund Manager.
Diane became Non Executive Chair of the Neptune Calculus Income & Growth VCT Plc, which merged with Calculus VCT in September 2017. Following the merger she became a Non-Executive Director of the enlarged Calculus VCT plc.
Various Fund Boards
Non Executive Director
Jun 1993 - Apr 2016
Singapore, UK
Diane was a Non-Executive Director of The China Fund (1993-1996), Pakistan Fund (1993-96), Batavia Fund (1993-96), Calculus Capital (2007-12) and several Irish domiciled UCITS Boards (1998-2016).
Greater Korea Trust
Chairman of the Advisory Board
Jun 1993 - Jun 1997
Diane served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Greater Korea Trust.
Newnham College forms part of the University of Cambridge and was established in 1871 as one of the first women’s colleges. It is now the only undergraduate college with an all-female Fellowship.
