Richard Wise (PC 74-76) is currently Chairman of verFides - a company he bought out from the Fortis Banking Group in November 2007.

 

Previously Richard spent 4 years as Managing Director of Fortis Intertrust and a further 5 years at  Abbey National Plc, holding a number of senior positions including: Director – Market Insights and Finance; Retail Finance Director and Head of Risk Management and Managing Director of Cater Allen - Private Bank.  Before joining  Abbey National Richard held senior positions in leading financial institutions such as Sumitomo Bank, Coutts Group, Mercury Asset Management Plc, Shearson Lehman Hutton and Price Waterhouse.

 

Richard is a member of the Securities Institute, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Board Member of United World Colleges International where he  chairs  the Audit Committee.  Richard graduated with an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.

 

“Those two years at UWC were the defining two years of my life - without any shadow of doubt!" states Richard.  “UWC teaches you a number of things that you take with you throughout your career but the main one is integrity.  Over the course of my business career there have been five or six occasions where I have needed to stand up and be counted.  It might have been simpler to take the easy route but UWC teaches you how to make the right decision, which is often the difficult one or the contrary view.  I learnt the importance of being prepared to make a stand.  I know it sounds trite but I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror and be comfortable with who I am and what I am doing.  I thank UWC and the UWC experience for that integrity.”

 

“Even after thirty years, UWC continues to impact on my life and my business.  As a result of living those two years in a multicultural  community, I actively encourage diversity in my business.  I see diversity as a strength to draw on; different backgrounds, education, race, gender, all that makes for a much stronger organisation.

 

“UWC teaches you the fundamentals  of how to treat people, how to respect them and what dignity means.  I learnt that you might not agree with what they are saying but you accord them the right to hold their opinion.  We were encouraged to challenge these opinions and we learnt how to defend and support our own positions.

 

“One of my favourite memories of my time at UWC occurred often and involves three or four really close friends sitting around the log fire in the common room at three or four in the morning.  The fire was in embers and it was really late but we  were still arguing/debating the issues of the day. 

 

“I was studying at a local secondary school in the UK and was becoming a very disruptive fifteen year old close to dropping out of school.  An enlightened Careers Master told me of a ‘Royal Naval College in Wales called Atlantic College that was  holding a selection weekend for people interested in joining the British Royal Navy’.  So with the idea of running away to sea I went to Atlantic College for the selection weekend.  At 09:00 on a Saturday morning, when I thought I would be doing something like navigation or fitness training, I was thrown into a French comprehension test. It was a hell of a shock!  I very quickly realised it wasn’t a Royal Navy selection weekend at all but as my return rail ticket was not valid until Sunday evening, I could do nothing but stay. 

 

“It was obvious on Monday morning when I saw the wry look on the Career Master’s face that he hadn’t made a mistake at all - he was a very wise man and I owe him an awful lot.   He was  delighted when I told him of my offer to study at the brand new UWC in Canada.  We stayed in contact for many years and I owe him an eternal debt of gratitude..  My parents were apprehensive at me leaving home at sixteen but, on the other hand, tremendously supportive and proud.  They knew that if I had stayed at the local school it would have ended in tears.

 

“I am proud to be in a position to give something back to both Pearson College and the whole UWC movement.  I spent six years on the Pearson Board and am just starting my seventh year on the International Board.  It is a real privilege to contribute to the movement that has given me so much.”