Willie Watt

Willie Watt has been on the Board and Audit Committee since October 2014. In November 2019 he was appointed as the inaugural Chair of the Scottish National Investment Bank. The Bank was launched in November 2020 with a remit to be a catalyst for mission led business growth in Scotland. Willie retired in December 2019 from Martin Currie, a $20bn AUM investment management firm, after 19 years as the company’s Chief Executive and latterly as Chair of the Board where he was responsible for the overall strategy of the business and its effective execution and chairing Martin Currie’s Executive Committee and Board. Prior to Martin Currie, Willie spent 16 years with 3i Group, latterly as Managing Director responsible for the company’s Scottish and Irish businesses and ran investment teams focusing on Venture Capital, Oil & Gas and mid-market buyouts.

Willie became a Trustee of the National Galleries of Scotland Foundation in February 2020. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Scottish Equity Partners, a leading UK venture capital firm.

Willie has a MA (Hons) from the University of Aberdeen at which he then undertook a 3-year Carnegie research scholarship in Geography and Archaeology.