Tracy Blackwell, boss of the multi-billion pound firm Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), can’t remember how many times she’s watched her favourite movie Gone with the Wind, yet the blockbuster’s Scarlett O’Hara character remains at the forefront.
“Growing up as a female there weren’t many strong role models, so to see a movie like that and a woman who takes her life into her own hands is really powerful,” says Blackwell.
Born to a teenage single mother in the US state of Illinois, Blackwell has lived in the UK for well over 30 years. In June, she was recognised for co-founding and growing PIC into a FTSE 100-sized business, one that takes on unwanted final-salary obligations from firms and secures retirement incomes for 350,000 people.
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The Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman judges also noted PIC’s asset portfolio of £50bn — with more than £13bn invested to revitalise Britain’s infrastructure, including the largest urban regeneration project in the Wirral.
This follows her ascent into asset management and a male-dominated environment, via a spell living in Malaysia, part-time jobs including as a magician’s assistant, and business school before a decade with Goldman Sachs. She left the industry entirely in the early 2000s due to a negative culture and spent a few years at home in Norfolk, where she lives with her husband and son.
One of her former Goldman colleagues, the late Danny Truell, who later fronted the investment division of the Wellcome Trust, then called her to say he was looking at starting a business with his brother. “I said ‘No, I’m not working in London, full-time or for you two,” smiles Blackwell, a keen sailor.
“If you had told me in 2006 that, 18 years later, we would have a £50bn balance sheet and employ 600 people … it is a bit surreal where we have got to.”
So, what persuaded her to enter the pensions business? “I saw the maths of it and it was so obvious and compelling,” says Blackwell, who took over as CEO in 2015 from her chief investment officer role.
“The UK has the second largest savings sector in the world. Of that, defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, which are mostly closed [over 70%], are £1.5tn. When people talk about why pension funds don’t invest in equities it is because they are all closed and shouldn’t be investing it.
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“If we have £1.5tn moving from DB into insurance and we are using that money to invest in the real economy, it will become a much bigger driver of the economy.”
Today, PIC invests in infrastructure-like projects such as social housing, universities and urban regeneration. Yet Blackwell has her work cut out. “There is plenty of capital to invest, there is very little to invest in,” she says. “It is a huge part of the problem in the UK.”
PIC set up the Purposeful Finance Commission (PFC) to tackle the ongoing issue, the independent body looking at barriers to investment and channeling money on the correct path. “It doesn’t matter what government is in charge, it will be a very hard thing to fix,” adds Blackwell.
The crux of the issue is that most investment is done at local government and authority level. “HS2 was driven from the top but almost everything else is driven from the bottom up,” says Blackwell. “Local authorities are hit by any number of things: planning, regulatories, lack of planning officers.
“It takes years for these investments to come to fruition. And when capital is international, it will go somewhere where it is easier to invest.”
One such example is the £750m Marlow Film Studios development that would have created 4,000 jobs, but was turned down by Buckinghamshire council in May due to green belt objections. “If that is the attitude then nothing will be built,” is Blackwell’s response to the rejected planning application.
A report by the PFC earlier this year argued for a private sector backed and independently administered pipeline fund to help councils clear planning backlogs.
However, Blackwell has overseen notable success with PIC’s £130m investment in the Wirral Waters One project, which has delivered affordable housing and created over 20,000 jobs. Last October, PIC also completed its first build to rent investment project, repurposing a key area adjacent to Manchester Victoria train station.
“Going to see the building, I burst into tears,” admits Blackwell.
“Most of our investments are financial with bonds, but to see the opinions rating of people who live there was powerful to see. It’s great to see how we can transform local communities. Our industry is starting to make a mark with competitor Legal & General working with Oxford University to regenerate the city centre.”
Blackwell says it took PIC two years before the pensions outfit was able to make its own mark in the 2000s. “We sat on our hands as markets were overvalued and it didn’t make any sense,” she says.
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“The pensions industry is filled with vested interest and people who are reluctant to move. And when it does it’s like a super tanker going in one direction. Now it’s the goal for a majority of pension schemes and sometimes these things take time.”
All the while, the penguin has been the brand’s mascot. “They are all about looking after the egg long-term and everyone working together,” says Blackwell.
“When you are starting up a business, you have to come up with whichever logo you can. It worked and developed and the penguins are incredibly popular.”
CEO Secrets: Tracy Blackwell
Speaking up
When you are in this position I believe more leaders should stand up and talk about what they think is important. Too many keep their head below the parapet. That’s wrong. There is a risk appetite in Britain and slowly over the years we have become a risk averse society.
Being a leader
Running an organisation, you always need to understand who the next layer is. Being a very regulated financial services firm, the regulators are all over this.
If something happens to our management, who takes over and how do you plan? Making sure we have robust succession plans in place and nurturing talent is important.
Female growth
The Bold Awards database has a platform of more than 450 of us around the world. There are all these businesses and I would love to invest in these amazing female founder-led companies. That is one of the problems, finding growth capital and especially for women.
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