Emiko Caerlewy-Smith: A new journey with Elixirr

I am thrilled to be embarking on a new journey this week as I join the Elixirr partner team. It’s not only a major milestone for me personally, but also for my teammates at KIT Consulting – Jane Flemmer and Amy King – who are coming along for the ride.

I am confident we will all accomplish huge things together and I’m so excited to get started… 

A bit about me…

Up to this point, I’ve had a richly diverse career which has enabled me to explore many different avenues before honing in on my passions and the areas I can deliver the most value. 

My expertise today lies in strategy, innovation and sustainability in financial services, but I have spent the past 20 years in a range of roles across the financial services and consulting industries.  

After earning my undergraduate degree in Environmental Management from the University of Leeds, I trained as a consultant with Deloitte. I went on to research a PhD in behavioural economics (including ESG investing) at Oxford University, taking on a role as Statistician for the UK Pensions Regulator before moving to PwC to advise FTSE 100 CFOs on managing pension risk. In 2012, I moved offshore to Jersey, Channel Islands to set up a pensions business for Lloyds Bank International, and after various private banking roles at Lloyds, I became COO for Barclays in the Channel Islands. 

However, in 2018 I found myself reflecting on my work and the value I was delivering (as one commonly does when a major milestone birthday is fast-approaching!).  A recurring theme in my life has always been seeking out a wider professional purpose, and I realised I could have greater impact. I wanted to find a way to combine this drive for professional purpose with my academic background, first-hand experience working in huge financial organisations that needed to transform, and my time as a Big 4 consultant.

And with that, I started KIT Consulting (Know, Innovate, Transform) in Jersey – a purpose-led firm specialising in sustainable finance. I am so grateful that our small team in Jersey has had the opportunity to work with global financial services clients to embed ESG into the heart of their strategy and operations and use sustainability as a tool for innovation. And further grateful for the opportunity to work with supranational NGOs such as the UN Development Programme, in shaping the sustainable finance agenda of world leaders at the Rome G20 and Glasgow COP26.

Developing our approach

I’ve been interested in sustainable business management since writing my undergraduate dissertation on it over 20 years ago! But to me it isn’t just about tactically managing environmental or social impact. It’s about sustainability as an innovation tool. Something which can transform your organisation to become more forward-facing, resilient and simply, more modern. It’s also an opportunity to humanise your organisational culture.

I started KIT to try to consult in those spaces. How do you make your organisation more human so that people understand the ultimate point of their work and become more engaged? How can you give them purpose and direction by transforming BAU operations and processes?

Ultimately, my goal was to build human relationships with clients – not simply transactional ones. I realised those relationships were the cornerstone of how relevant and successful our advice was. I wanted to figure out what was keeping C-suite up at night and find a way to solve it. If we could add personal value to our clients’ lives so they could sleep better at night or spend more time with their kids, then we had done our job because we made their business life easier and more effective. 

And with that founding principle, KIT just became this amazing organic journey and it’s one I’m exceptionally proud of. 

Joining forces with Elixirr

The decision to join the Elixirr team was easy. In fact, it’s a decision we might even have manifested in some ways! When we originally started KIT, we were aware of Elixirr and we liked the bold, challenger brand that we saw. I remember a strategy meeting in Jane’s back garden where we discussed what we wanted to be as a firm and Elixirr was a name that came up. We wanted to be disruptive and challenge the status quo, and as a female-founded company with purpose-led values, we knew we were already on that kind of path.

Joining forces will allow us to unlock our full potential and scale the value we can add not just to clients, but to the broader global sustainability agenda. 

Given my background, I see my role at Elixirr as two-fold: Helping to build out Elixirr’s existing capability and delivery in the sustainability space, as well as growing our general management consulting presence in the offshore financial markets.

I believe the financial services industry, in particular, has both the responsibility and opportunity to solve some of the world’s biggest sustainability challenges. Together, we can help clients become more successful, sustainable and resilient, while also playing their part in delivering essential global commitments. It’s so exciting to be able to do this with the power of Elixirr and its exceptionally talented people behind us!