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Our Board

RIT Capital Partners plc has a world class Board, maintaining rigorous standards of corporate governance. 

You will find information about our Board Committees here.

You will find the profiles of Directors below.

Philippe Costeletos

Senior Independent Director

Philippe Costeletos joined the Board as a non-executive Director in July 2017 and became its Senior Independent Director in April 2019. He is Chair of the Conflicts and Remuneration Committees and a member of the Audit and Risk, Nominations, and Valuation Committees.

He has over 30 years’ of private investment and board governance experience and is Founder of Stemar Capital Partners (SCP), a private investment firm focused on building long-term investment platforms. Philippe was formerly Chair of International of Colony Capital, and a Senior Advisor of the Blackstone Group. Previously, he was Head of Europe at TPG and a member of TPG’s Global Management and Investment Committees. Prior to that, Philippe was a Member of the Management Committee at Investcorp. Previously, Philippe held positions at JP Morgan Capital, JP Morgan’s Private Equity Group and Morgan Stanley.

Philippe is Chair of Clinica Tambre and Zeno Partners and a board member of AutoHellas, Colosseum Dental Group, Vangest Group and Generation Home. Philippe serves as a member of the Yale University Council and the President’s Council on International Activities. He graduated magna cum laude with a BA with distinction in Mathematics from Yale University and received an MBA from Columbia University.

 

Philippe Costeletos

Senior Independent Director

Vikas Karlekar

Non-Executive Director

Vikas Karlekar joined the Board as a non-executive Director in August 2022 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.

He is a qualified chartered accountant, and a graduate of the London School of Economics specialising in Management Sciences and has held a number of senior finance roles across the financial services industry. Vikas is currently Managing Director of Group Finance at Intermediate Capital Group PLC, a UK listed asset manager specialising in private markets, covering all aspects of financial and regulatory reporting, valuation governance, key accounting judgments, financial planning and analysis, and platform and operating model transformation. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Trustees, and Treasurer, of the Pepal Foundation, a charity focused on bringing together NGOs and global corporations to develop leaders and find practical solutions to challenging social issues.

Vikas previously spent 10 years at Barclays in a series of pan finance leadership roles, including Global Finance Controller for Barclays International Division, managing all aspects of financials, key accounting decisions, valuations, driving technology and process improvements, and leading key regulatory relationships. He also spent 13 years at UBS Investment Bank, in both London and New York in various finance leadership roles. Vikas qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG.

Vikas Karlekar

Non-Executive Director

Sir James Leigh-Pemberton

Non-Executive Chairman

Sir James Leigh-Pemberton is non-executive Chairman having joined the Board of the Company as a non-executive Director in April 2019. He is Chairman of the Nominations Committee and a member of the Conflicts, Remuneration and Valuation Committees. He previously served as an independent non-executive Director of the Company from 2004 to 2013.

Sir James joined UK Financial Investments (UKFI) in October 2013 as Chief Executive and in January 2014 was appointed Executive Chairman. On 1 April 2016 he became Non-Executive Chairman of UKFI. Following the merger of UKFI and UK Government Investments (UKGI), he became Deputy Chairman of UKGI, a position he held until September 2022.

Before joining UKFI, Sir James was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse in the UK, based in London. In this role, he was responsible for developing the Bank’s client relationships in Private Banking, Investment Banking and Asset Management in the UK. He was also a member of the Credit Suisse Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Operating Committee. He joined Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) in 1994. Prior to joining CSFB, he was a Director of SG Warburg Securities, where he worked for 15 years.

In the 2019 New Year Honours List, Sir James received a knighthood for services to financial services, British industry and government.

Sir James Leigh-Pemberton

Non-Executive Chairman

Cecilia McAnulty

Non-Executive Director

Cecilia joined the board as a non-executive director in August 2022. She was appointed as Chair of the Valuation Committee in September 2023.

She has held senior investment roles for banks and hedge funds including Centaurus Capital, Barclays Capital and Royal Bank of Scotland. Her investment experience encompasses several alternative asset classes including distressed debt, private equity and credit.

Cecilia holds a number of non-executive roles including Senior Independent Director of Northern 2 VCT plc, Audit Chair of Polar Capital Global Financials Trust plc, and Independent Non-Executive Director (INED) of Eurobank Cyprus.

Her former non-executive roles include INED of Alcentra Limited, an asset manager specialising in sub investment grade credit, a member of the Industrial Development Advisory Board, advising on grants to UK businesses and Chair of the Finance and General Purposes Committee for English National Ballet.

She qualified as a chartered accountant with Peat Marwick (now KPMG) in Glasgow.

Cecilia McAnulty

Non-Executive Director

André Perold

Non-Executive Director

André Perold joined the Board of the Company as a non‑executive Director in April 2018 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.

André is Co-Founder, Partner and Chief Investment Officer of HighVista Strategies, a Boston based investment firm. He is a board member of the Vanguard Group, the global investment company. He was previously the George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking at the Harvard Business School where he also held senior roles including Chair of the Finance Faculty and Senior Associate Dean.

André Perold

Non-Executive Director

Jutta af Rosenborg

Non-Executive Director

Jutta af Rosenborg joined the Board as a non-executive Director in May 2022. She is Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, and is a member of the Valuation Committee.

She is a qualified accountant and holds a Master’s degree in Business Economics and Auditing from Copenhagen Business School and has held a number of senior roles in group finance, auditing and risk management.

Jutta is a non-executive director of JPMorgan European Growth & Income plc and Chair of its audit committee. In addition, she is a non-executive director of Nilfisk Holding A/S and chairs its audit committee. She is also a member of the supervisory board of BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A., where she chairs the audit committee.

She was previously a non-executive director at abrdn plc (formerly Standard Life Aberdeen plc) and NKT A/S, and was also executive vice president, chief financial officer of ALK Abelló A/S and Chair of Det Danske Klasselotteri A/S.

Jutta af Rosenborg

Non-Executive Director

Hannah Rothschild CBE

Non-Executive Director

Hannah Rothschild joined the Board of the Company as a non independent non-executive Director in August 2013 and is a member of the Nominations Committee.

In addition, she is a non-executive director of WHAM, a Director of Five Arrows Limited and serves as a Trustee of the Rothschild Foundation.

Hannah is an award-winning writer and filmmaker with a long standing career in the media.

She was the first woman to Chair the Trustees of the National Gallery.

In the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Hannah was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the arts and to philanthropy.

Hannah Rothschild CBE

Non-Executive Director