My guest today is Mitesh Sheth, MBE, the Chief Investment Officer at Newton Investment Management. Mitesh was suggested as a podcast guest by various colleagues of mine after delivering a resilience training programme at Newton, which Mitesh himself attended.

Mitesh obviously made an impression and when I met him a few weeks ago, I understood why. Not only is he an incredibly smart and accomplished individual, but he is a person who despite - or perhaps because of - some very significant challenges he experienced in his early life, is committed to learning, evolving and bettering himself and the world around him. That said, Mitesh is a wonderfully understated, humble and unassuming leader. He is what I would call: “A gentle changemaker.”

Mitesh qualified from the London School of Economics with a BSc in Actuarial Science. After graduating, he spent a year in India studying at a monastery/school of philosophy. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and a member of the Diversity Project’s advisory board. Mitesh has been recognised for creating one of the industry’s most open, innovative and inclusive workplace cultures and for putting diversity at the top of the agenda when he was the CEO of Reddington. As a result, in part, of Mitesh’s efforts in this area and his committed leadership, Reddington was one of the first companies in financial services to close its gender pay gap in 2019. Unsurprisingly, Mitesh received an MBE in 2022 in recognition for his contributions.

This conversation spans a childhood in environments as diverse as Bolton and India; being a member of a gang; spending a year in a monastery struggling to belong and be comfortable in your own skin; grappling as a teenager with mental health challenges; and being an impactful senior business leader in a successful financial institution.

00:00 - Introduction
03:16 - Not fitting in during childhood
15:32 - Desperation and finding faith
24:39 - Learning to live simply
36:45 - Spirituality as a foundation for life
47:10 – Supporting, rather than burdening children
01:03:45 - Opening up and revealing yourself
01:14:47 - Allowing children to experience their lives