Motive Partners, a private equity firm focused on technology-enabled financial and business services companies, announces the engagement of Blythe Masters and Richard Lumb as Industry Partners. Masters and Lumb will focus on thematic strategy development, deal origination, execution and value creation for Motive Partners portfolio companies.
Industry Partners advise the firm, investors and portfolio companies with unique competitive advantage through their dedicated contributions across the business. Industry Partners will advise Motive’s investment professionals, innovation team (Motive Labs) and Global Advisory Council in the development of investment theses, technical due diligence and value creation plans as well as source opportunities and, in certain situations, serve on the boards of Motive Partners’ portfolio companies to provide hands on execution of value creation plans.
To date, Industry Partners have had deep engagement with Motive Partners portfolio companies, including a number of leadership roles at portfolio firms. Those include Stephen C. Daffron, President at Dun & Bradstreet, Peter Schurau, Chief Executive Officer at LPA, and Christine Ciriani, Chief Commercial Officer at Finantix.
Rob Heyvaert, Founder & Managing Partner at Motive Partners commented: “Our industry is complex and to be the best we can be as sector-specialists requires an intense focus on talent acquisition. I am delighted to welcome Blythe and Richard to the Motive family, as two leaders I have greatly admired throughout my own career in the industry and who I know will add much value to our platform and those we serve.”
Blythe Masters joins the Industry Partner team with a wealth of financial services and technology experience in a number of diverse leadership positions, including J.P. Morgan and Digital Asset Holdings. Blythe’s J.P. Morgan career spanned 27 years, leaving in 2014 after the successful sale of the physical commodities business she built for the bank. She was a member of the Corporate & Investment Bank Operating Committee and the firmwide Executive Committee. Other prior roles include Head of Global Commodities and Head of Corporate & Investment Bank Regulatory Affairs and Chief Financial Officer of the Investment Bank.
After J.P. Morgan, Blythe was CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, a New York headquartered financial technology company that builds highly innovative enterprise software. Digital Asset is a first-mover and acknowledged leader in the field of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT, also sometimes known as blockchain) and was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the “Top 25 Tech Companies to Watch 2018.” The Australian Securities Exchange, ASX, was recently the first financial market infrastructure in the world to announce its intent to replace its core infrastructure with DLT, provided by Digital Asset. Masters continues to serve as a Board Member and Advisor to the company.
Blythe Masters, Industry Partner at Motive Partners commented: “I am delighted to be joining the Motive Partners platform, which will allow me to add value while spending time on my areas of expertise and passion. In a relatively short period of time, Motive has made great strides, and I look forward to working with the talented team on the future phases of the firm’s development.”
Richard Lumb joins the Industry Partner team following a 35-year tenure at Accenture, where, from December 2010 to August 2019, he held the role of Group Chief Executive – Financial Services serving clients in the banking, insurance and capital markets sectors. Additionally, Richard led the growth and strategy of Accenture Consulting, represented Accenture Consulting and the firm’s five Operating Groups on Accenture’s Global Operating Committee and was a member of the company’s Global Management Committee. During his 9 year period on the Accenture leadership team, the Financial Services business almost doubled in size to $8.5bn revenue and the market cap of Accenture increased circa 3.6x to $130bn.
Richard’s career has consistently focused on the transformation of business and technology in the financial services industry, working with both mature and emerging technologies. In 2011 he established and then led Acccenture’s FinTech Innovation Lab in New York, London and Hong Kong and led the acquisition of Duck Creek Technologies, a global provider of P&C software. In 2016 he completed the partial sale of Duck Creek to funds advised by Apax Partners and he was on the board of Duck Creek from 2011 to 2019.
Today, Richard continues to sit on the Board of Finastra, one of the world’s largest financial technology firms. Finastra was formed in late 2017 through the combination of D+H and Misys, after Vista Equity Partners acquired Misys in June 2012 and subsequently purchased D+H in 2017.
Richard Lumb, Industry Partner at Motive Partners commented: “Having spent my career in Financial Services, I have had the privilege of working with many established institutions and new innovators to transform the industry. My decision to join Motive as an Industry Partner reflects my continued desire to play a role at the intersection of finance and technology, and I believe the Motive Partners platform, combining deep expertise with capital, will allow me to spend my time most impactfully.”
About Motive Partners
Motive Partners is a sector specialist investment firm that is focused on technology-enabled companies that power the financial services industry. Based in New York and London and comprised of investors, operators and innovators, Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies.
Motive Labs works with an international network of globally renowned financial institutions to deliver market-leading innovation services. Motive Partners leverages this proprietary insight gained through Motive Labs to inform investment decisions and technical due diligence and to drive operational value creation within its portfolio.
More information on Motive Partners can be found at www.motivepartners.com.
Important Information
Forward-looking statements herein are based on the beliefs and assumptions using information currently available. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. They also involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Motive’s Industry Partners are third-party consultants engaged for their recognized expertise to advise Motive personnel and are not employees of Motive Partners.
