Deborah Gilshan has over 18 years of experience in investment stewardship.
Her areas of specialism include corporate governance, executive pay, diversity, corporate culture, sustainability and market policy work to protect the rights of shareholders. Ms. Gilshan is a regular commentator and public advocate on investment stewardship and her work has featured in the Financial Times, the New York Times and other mainstream financial media.
Ms. Gilshan is currently an Investment Director in the ESG (environmental, social and governance) team at Aberdeen Standard Investments, the global asset manager, having joined Standard Life Investments in May 2017 prior to its merger. Previously, she was Head of Sustainable Ownership at RPMI Railpen, the pension fund for the UK railway industry, and she started her governance career in December 2000 at the UK’s Co-operative Insurance Society. She read Mathematics and English at the University of Manchester and previously worked in corporate tax at Ernst & Young.
Ms. Gilshan is a Fellow of ICSA: The Governance Institute and holds the CFA’s Investment Management Certificate. She co-chairs the Investor Group of the 30% Club, the global market initiative to promote diversity in companies. Ms Gilshan chairs the Ethics & Systemic Risk Committee of the International Corporate Governance Network. She was a member of the Steering Group of the UK Financial Reporting Council’s project on corporate culture and now serves on the FRC’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee.
In October 2011, Ms. Gilshan founded The 100% Club, a multi-sector alliance for professional women that seeks to promote the importance of networking for career advancement and personal development. The 100% Club is based on a philosophy that values the distinctiveness women bring to the workplace and how that distinctiveness drives sustainable corporate cultures that respect diversity in all its forms.