Amanda Newman Smith: Why role models matter in business

Amanda Newman Smith writer for Money Marketing,
Interviews Steve Lamarque: Why role models matter in business

7 October 2026

Starting your own business in financial services is often a very personal decision borne of a particular set of circumstances.

But deciding what kind of company you want to create – particularly in terms of its culture – can have far-reaching implications. Not just for the people you may employ in the future, but also from younger generations who need to see diverse role models building successful careers in the sector.

This is something Steve Lamarque, chief executive of structured product provider Hilbert Investment Solutions is acutely aware of. He founded the company 12 years ago as an expectant father awaiting the arrival of his first child.

A quiet moment of contemplation back then reveals why Lamarque insists his firm has a diverse workforce, welcoming people from all kinds of backgrounds.

“I was sitting on my own and thought to myself, ‘We’re having a baby girl. I just want to make sure there are no boundaries for her – that she can see it’s possible if she wants to achieve something’,” he says.

“She is mixed race and I don’t want her to tell me: ‘I can’t do this because I’m black,’ or, ‘I can’t do this because I’m a woman.’”

Role models

Although African-born Lamarque stresses that Hilbert will never overlook good CVs when hiring, the firm tries to achieve an equal gender split among employees. With offices in Dubai, Paris and London, Hilbert’s staff also come from a range of ethnic backgrounds.

The more you see people similar to yourself as chief executives, the more normal and familiar it becomes

“The more you see people similar to yourself as chief executives or in other leadership positions, the more normal and familiar it becomes,” says Lamarque. “That applies to everyone, regardless of background, ethnicity, or gender.”

He recalls a pivotal moment in his early career when employed in a junior capacity at Merrill, when it operated as the global investment bank Merrill Lynch.

“We had a big party in Paris where people from the US were invited because it was the 50th anniversary of Merrill Lynch in France,” says Lamarque. “At that time, the trading floor in Paris was much less diverse.”

When the chief executive arrived, Lamarque was surprised to see a black man leading such a major US-based organisation. “For me, that was the first inspiration. I thought,’ There are people out there who are similar to me and they are doing well.’”

"That was the first time I was able to see someone at the very top level who I could relate to".

This was Stanley O’Neill, the first African-American chief executive of a major Wall Street securities firm.

“He explained his journey and how he had reached that position. That was the first time I was able to see someone at the very top level who I could relate to,” recalls Lamarque. “It was a real inspiration – it made me think, ‘OK, let’s keep going.'”

That resilience helped Lamarque navigate the white, male-dominated trading floor culture of the City of London 20 years ago.

Being black was one of the characteristics that some of Lamarque’s colleagues jumped on to make what he describes as “bad jokes”.

“When I was on the trading floor, it was like everyone was just a kid. It was like at school when you need to learn how to respond and defend yourself,” says Lamarque.

"That was the trading floor culture at the time – there was a lot of competition and bad jokes".

He learned through experience that “if you don’t respond, you become a victim”, with the jokes at your expense continuing.

“The first time it happened, I was a bit shy and laughed,” he says. “But when it keeps happening, you realise you need to respond. That was just the trading floor culture at the time – there was a lot of competition and bad jokes.”

Knowing that senior management came from different backgrounds and ethnicities reassured Lamarque that this was more a case of trading floor banter than discrimination at a company level.

“The people at the top were similar to me and came from different backgrounds. That gave me the confidence to say, ‘OK, that’s not the culture of the company. It’s just someone making a bad jokes – and these things can improve.’”

Ups and downs

By the time Lamarque was ready to start his own business, he had left investment banking behind to work in structured products for the now-defunct insurance company Skandia.

"Securing finance is a huge barrier to growth for almost a third of black business owners".

“When I was there, Skandia started to change its management of things and close a few offices. I used to have an internal client in France – but then Skandia stopped doing business across Europe.”

This was the nudge Lamarque needed to set up on his own.

“It was a nice position to say, ‘I’m going to do it myself,’ and go back to the client I used to have – the people I know – and take it from there,” he says.

Black business owners can find it difficult to secure finance to start or grow a business. In 2020, a British Business Bank’s report found that 39% of black entrepreneurs receive approval for their loan applications, compared to 67% of white entrepreneurs.

More recently, it was revealed at the UK Black Business Entrepreneurs Conference in February that securing finance is a huge barrier to growth for almost a third of black business owners.

"I used my savings to start the business because I knew that any application process to get a loan is a lengthy process".

Lamarque did not even try to secure external investment, but not because of his heritage.

“I used my savings to start the business because I knew that any application process to get a loan is a lengthy process,” he says. “And with the business I was trying to achieve, I thought it unlikely that I would get a business loan for that. It’s a tough environment with a lot of big names, so I didn’t try.”

Lamarque believes opportunities came his way because he was ‘into the numbers’ and is experienced in the structured products market. Even so, he has experienced the ups and downs of running a business.

“Starting a company is not easy and it’s hard to assess what was making it difficult,” he says. “Was it because I was black or because I was setting up something from zero?”

Specialising in structured products may also have been a factor. The sector was tarnished by the mis-selling of so-called ‘precipice bonds’ in the late 1990s and early 2000s.


Its reputation was subsequently hit by a range of problems, such as the collapse of Lehman Brothers – which backed many structured products – during the 2008 financial crisis. Further mis-selling scandals followed, prompting greater scrutiny from the FCA and many advisers stepping away from this market.

The market is very different today, stresses Lamarque.

“As time passes, there’s more learning and more things have been produced,” he says.

He points to the creation of a trade body – the UK Structured Product Association, which works closely with the FCA. Barcode-style risk grading also appears on product literature to ensure that advisers and clients understand the full implications of investing in structured products.

Changing perceptions

One of the issues in the past, says Lamarque, was that structured product providers did not use the same terminology in their brochures.

"The FCA has been doing a very good job of trying to make that sure people understand the industry".

“That makes it quite hard if you have to explain something quite complex to people who then have to compare providers,” he says.

“But the FCA has been doing a very good job of trying to make that sure people understand the industry. The industry itself has also done a good job to make sure we use the same terminology.

“In the past, those things were not there – but I guess with any crisis, you learn how to make sure things get better for everyone.”

Lamarque concedes that the structured product market is niche and that some advisers are still not keen “because they don’t understand structured products, which is quite fair”.

However, he says Hilbert still gets business from the adviser community when it is looking to diversify portfolios for clients.

"If we have the right things for the client at the right time, they will come to us regardless".

“If you are a financial adviser, you’re trying to optimise the portfolio for your end client,” he says. “So, if we have the right things for the client at the right time, they will come to us regardless. That’s the nature of the market.”

To help advisers learn more about structured products, Hilbert runs an academy, which is endorsed by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI).

“If you have a higher return, obviously there’s more risk into it, but you need to understand what those risks are,” says Lamarque.

“That’s why we created the academy – to make sure advisers understand how structured products behave and work.”

Amanda Newman Smith is a features writer for Money Marketing: 7 October 2026