Sustainable Talent Specialists
Valentine Thomas & Partners is a data led, executive search and advisory firm, specialising in leadership appointments within the front office for the investment and wealth management industries. We work on a retained basis with clients, helping them assess and acquire executives that enable and deliver short-term and long-term transformation.
Founded in 2004 by Richard Valentine and Basil Reid Thomas, the firm has grown into a leading brand within the asset and wealth sectors. Between the partnership we have advised on over 500 searches and two thirds of our revenue is derived from repeat business. In the last two years over 50% of our searches have encompassed a strong sustainability focus.
Our partnership offers a bespoke and personal service to a select group of clients. Our EMEA footprint provides organisations with the proven transformational leadership and senior executives they need. Partners at Valentine Thomas & Partners are involved in every search from client briefing through to market approaches. When you engage Valentine Thomas & Partners it is the partnership that does the work rather than outsourcing to junior colleagues.
Click here to access our Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking signed statement from November 2022
Why Us?
Given our tenure in the market, we have built a proprietary database with over 50,000 executives across the asset and wealth management sectors. Combined with our relationships, this gives us access to an enviable network of talent, with multiple data points on these individuals which allows us to give our clients a much more informed and deeper view. We take time to understand your needs and give you our advice on what we believe is realistic and achievable.
Our experience tells us the best talent often lies beyond the obvious markets and we have the research capabilities to explore all relevant segments across the buyside– wherever in the world they are. Our clients include firms across Investment Managers, ESG Specialists, Endowments, Family Offices, Pension Funds, Wealth Managers, Real Asset Funds, Hedge Funds and other Service providers.
Partnership
Our partners have extensive track records of operating at the top end of the market, earning deep levels of credibility and trust among clients and candidates alike.
We are a small partnership and our tailored service presents your business in the best possible way, from bespoke candidate briefs through to the targeted and professional manner in which we access proven C-Level executives across the world. We are your trusted partner in the market.


Access Without Restriction
We run a select number of business-critical searches per year in comparison to the major global search firms who handle more than 1,000 a year. We are positioned as specialists in our sector and work with a handful of trusted clients. This means we are not driven by volume and our off limits is small, which allows us to access talent across the majority of the market place, unlike some of our global competitors who suffer from extensive off limits.
Our Team
Valentine Thomas & Partners is a boutique executive search firm focused exclusively on Asset and Wealth Management. For more information on our team, please select a biography next to the relevant profile below.

Basil Reid Thomas
Partner
Basil specialises in senior level leadership, investment and distribution searches for many of the leading global and European asset managers, asset owners and alternative investment firms. In recent years, his focus has broadened to incorporate specialist ESG and sustainable hiring and advisory services for clients.
Basil holds an MA from Glasgow University.

David Harms
Managing Partner
Before joining Valentine Thomas, David spent 9 years at Heidrick & Struggles in their financial services practice, most recently as a Consultant, where he advised a number of leading investment managers, Fintech firms and private equity backed businesses on their human capital needs. He began his career with a search boutique based in London. David holds a BA Hons in Business Management from the University of Bristol, West of England.

Alex Diffey
Partner
Alex has run search practices across the globe, notably in London, Geneva and Singapore. With a market leading track record of placing sought-after professionals from Senior Relationship Managers to Heads of Private Banking, as well as Investment Managers and Family Office CEO’s,
Alex has earned a reputation as one of London’s top search professionals within his field. During his career Alex has overseen and completed numerous team moves and C-Level placements as well as being mandated on various bespoke consulting projects on behalf of his clients.
Alex holds a BA degree in Marketing and French and completed a portion of his higher education at the University of Lyon, France. Alex speaks conversational French and conversational German.

Celia Cortijo
Consultant
Before joining Valentine Thomas & Partners, Celia worked as a freelance Executive Search Consultant, focusing on Distribution and Investment roles across asset classes. Prior to that, she worked for The Buy Side Club, an executive search firm specialising in asset management, where she completed senior assignments within Distribution, Investments, Operations.
Celia has a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Seville, Spain. She is a native Spanish speaker and fluent in English.

Georgia Hill
Chief Administrative Officer
Once her placement was completed, she returned to Bournemouth University to finish her final year of studies.
In 2022, Georgia graduated with a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance and has now returned to Valentine Thomas & Partners as a Chief Administrative Officer. She is responsible for maintaining the integrity of our systems and the ongoing development of our firm.

George Windsor
Consultant
Prior to joining Valentine Thomas & Partners, George was based in Hong Kong with a global search business in their asset management practice. He also spent time in London prior to moving to Hong Kong. He has experience working across investment strategies and brings a global outlook to human capital requirements.
George holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of Nottingham and a GDL from City University.

Ikhlaas Shire

Richard Valentine
Co-Founder & Advisor
He moved into executive search in 1993, joining Tyzack & Partners. Following the merger of Tyzack with The Whitney Group in 1999, he led the firm’s combined European Asset Management practice group. Richard specialises across asset management, private banking and alternative investments.