Legal & General CEO Nigel Wilson has said he is “delighted” to have received a knighthood in the Queen’s New Year Honours and thanked colleagues for their work which made it possible.
Wilson (pictured), who was appointed CEO a decade ago having joined L&G as group chief financial officer in 2009, received the award for services to the finance industry and regional development.
“There are many examples where I am very proud of what L&G has achieved,” Wilson told Health & Protection.
“We have invested £30bn in 15 cities across the UK and it lifts the spirits to see the physical and economic difference this is making working in partnership in places like Newcastle, Sunderland, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford and Bristol for example.
“Businesses can tackle big social challenges and everyone benefits as a result.”
But keeping the news about his award quite was quite a challenge, Wilson added.
“Sitting quietly on news like this is certainly a challenge during the few weeks between being informed and the award being made public – however it provides a positive start for the year not just personally but also for L&G and for the colleagues who have made it possible,” he said.
Wilson is a former chairman of the Investment Association’s review of Executive Pay and the government’s review of Mission Led Business, a former member of the government’s Patient Capital Review Industry Panel and a commissioner in the Resolution Foundation’s Intergenerational Commission.
He is currently on the prime minister’s Build Back Better Council and a member of the expert groups advising on the government’s Social Care Green Paper and the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy Implementation Board.
He also currently chairs the Bank of England’s Climate Financial Risk Forum, Innovation Working Group.
Away from the world of finance, he has won a number of national masters athletics championships.