Emma McConachie

A neuroscientist by background and with more than 25 years’ experience working as a headhunter and talent specialist, Emma McConachie is a Director of Areté Ventures. On behalf of Areté, Emma delivers non-executive and senior leadership executive search, crafts leadership solutions and designs strategic talent initiatives for a wide range of organisations, from fast growth investor backed insurance businesses through to global investment management firms and tech start ups. She advises CEOs of PE backed businesses on designing and implementing value creation plans, in particular helping craft the talent and leadership phases aligned to these strategies. As a headhunter and having worked in Europe and Asia, she has led a team of more than 80 headhunters in 19 countries. She has placed more than 500 people internationally into world leading insurance, reinsurance, professional services and consultancy firms. Emma has a post grad in Executive Coaching and was invited to author a chapter in Sage’s 2015 publication “Coaching in Professional Contexts” now one of the foundation textbooks taught at Henley, UEL & University of Sydney for the course Coaching Psychology. Emma is an honorary lifetime member of the Institute of Risk Management and spent a number of years as a Board member at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, where she was responsible for helping define and execute their international strategy. She is currently guiding IRLA (the governing body for the legacy insurance and reinsurance market) on strategy, organisational design, succession planning and leadership development.