Simon Hayes

Background

About Simon Hayes

Simon’s role as a Partner in the Board Practice brings together the three strands of his business career - investment banking, consultancy and executive search. A headhunter for fifteen years, he previously led the Financial Services Board Practice at Odgers Berndtson, conducting searches for Chairs, CEOs, CFOs and NEDs in the FTSE100 and equivalents in the private, public and third sectors. Before that, he gained two decades’ experience with a number of the world’s premier financial institutions on four continents, latterly as a Managing Director at Salomon Brothers and UBS Securities. Prior to joining Green Park, he developed a people skills product (rubriqs®) while working as an executive coach and mentor, and writing. His debut novel Zero Ri$k was published in the summer, and in paperback in October 2024. During his career, Simon has lived and worked on both sides of the US, in Hong Kong, in Australia, and in Tokyo (twice). The first member of his family to attend university, he graduated in Law from Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was a member of the Advisory Board of Women in Banking & Finance from 2012-18.Before Odgers, Simon spent nearly three years as managing partner of the top-rated financial services search firm Eban in Tokyo. In addition to running the #1-ranked firm, Simon was personally voted "Best Headhunting Executive” in Japan in the annual Asiamoney magazine poll. He started his search career with Global Sage. His first career, in financial services, began with Bank of Boston and Morgan Grenfell. He then became an equity research analyst in London with stockbroker James Capel and, later, Warburg, achieving the #1 ranking in the authoritative Institutional Investor and Extel research polls in two industry sectors. Simon spent much of the 1990s in Asia, first as Head of Equity Research for Warburg in Japan and then as a Managing Director and Head of Asia-Pacific Equities for Salomon and UBS, based in Hong Kong. Before moving into executive search, he spent three years in private investment. As a consultant, he spent much of 2023 in Zimbabwe helping a financial company deal with a major fraud.