Biography
Dr Tom Gosling is an Executive Fellow at ECGI. He is also an Executive Fellow in the Department of Finance at LBS where he contributes to the evidence-based practice of responsible business by connecting academic research, public policy, and corporate action. His projects at LBS have included a collaboration with PwC on whether and how executive pay should be linked to ESG targets and a collaboration with The Investor Forum on What does stakeholder capitalism mean for investors?
Tom has 20+ years of experience as a board adviser and is a leading independent authority on corporate governance and responsible business. Most recently he was a senior Partner at PwC where he established and led the firm’s executive pay practice, advising FTSE-100 and equivalent private and European companies on corporate governance and executive pay including ABB, Barclays, BHP, BP, Flutter, GSK, Kerring, Old Mutual, RBS (NatWest), RSA, Standard Chartered, Tesco, and Unilever.
Prior to joining PwC, Tom was a Research Fellow in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University. He has a PhD in Applied Mathematics and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.
Tom is also an adviser to f the Steering Committee of The Purposeful Company, a think tank devoted to identifying ways in which the UK corporate governance environment can be developed to support companies that create profit through fulfilling a purpose that benefits society. Tom was previously a member of the Steering Committee for five years. Reports Tom has co-authored in this role include The Purposeful Company Study into Deferred Shares, exploring market attitudes to alternatives to traditional Long-term Incentive Plans, which was highlighted by the Investment Association in their November 2019 letter to FTSE-350 companies; The Purposeful Company submission to the FRC on the review of the UK Stewardship Code; and The Purposeful Company Executive Remuneration Report, which is a comprehensive review of the academic evidence relating to executive pay levels and structure.
As part of his role, Tom engages extensively with regulators such as BEIS, the FRC and the FCA on remuneration, corporate governance and stewardship policy matters. He participated in a joint PwC and London Business School team commissioned by BEIS to fulfil the Government’s manifesto commitment to study the impact of share buybacks on executive pay and investment and represented London Business School on the FCA’s Purpose Working Group, contributing to the Discussion Paper on Transforming culture in financial services – driving purposeful cultures. Tom has given evidence to the BEIS Select Committee and the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.
Tom is a regular commentator in print, broadcast, and social media. He presents the Grow the Pie podcast series with Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School, delving into the thinking behind his book of the same name. Tom is regularly quoted in the quality press, and has appeared on The Today Programme, Radio 5 Live, BBC News, and Sky News. His OpEds for the FT include Equality in Executive Pay is Not Always Fair and Fund Industry Can Flush Out the Closet Trackers.
