Ewan Mckinnon Kirk (born February 1961) is a British technology entrepreneur, founder of Cantab Capital Partners, chair of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences and Non-Executive Director of BAE Systems.[1][2][3] He is also Co-Chair of the Turner Kirk Trust which supports STEM, education and conservation causes in the UK and the developing world.[4]
Ewan Kirk | |
|---|---|
 Kirk in 2015 | |
| Born | Ewan Mckinnon Kirk February 1961 (age 63) |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Glasgow University of Cambridge University of Southampton |
| Occupation(s) | Investor and businessman |
| Organization(s) | Chair of the Isaac Newton Institute Founder of the Turner-Kirk Charitable Trust |
| Known for | Founder of Cantab Capital Partners |
| Website | www.cantabcapital.com |
Early life and education
Kirk was born in February 1961 in Swindon, Wiltshire.[5][6] He was raised in Scotland where he was brought up in Glasgow and attended Greenfaulds High School in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire.[6] He studied for a BSc in Natural philosophy and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow before studying Part III of the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge.[7] He was promoted to a PhD in General relativity at the University of Southampton.[7]
Career
Whilst at university, Kirk founded DaLEK Software, which developed the Computer-aided design (CAD) package MicroDraft for Amstrad CPC and PCW computers.[8] After graduation from Southampton, he returned to Cambridge, as Director at Innovation for the science and technology consultancy Scientific Generics.[8]
Goldman Sachs
In 1992, Kirk joined Goldman Sachs, initially working in commodities before moving to currencies.[9] He was appointed a managing director in 1998, and became a Partner in 2000.[9] As a partner, Kirk was responsible for heading up the bank's European quantitative technologies group, which tested systematic investment strategies.[9] He oversaw a team of 120 mathematicians, scientists and statisticians.[10]
Cantab Capital Partners
In 2006, he founded Cantab Capital Partners, a science-driven quantitative investment management firm in Cambridge.[11][8][12][13][14] The firm says its work resembles a "scientific research organisation" more than a financial firm.[13] Most of the members of the team hold advanced degrees in mathematics, physics, statistics or computer science.[15] The company has links with the University of Cambridge.[15]
In 2016, Cantab Capital Partners was acquired by GAM Investments, becoming part of GAM Systematic.[15][16] At the time of acquisition, Cantab Capital Partners had 56 employees and £4.5bn under management.[15] In February 2020, GAM Systematic won Eurohedge's 'Managed Futures – Under $500m' award for 2019.[17]
In 2020, Kirk was awarded HFM's Lifetime Achievement Award for his founding role in Cantab, contributions to quantitative investment and developing science-led approaches to finance.[18]
He exited as President of GAM Systematic Cantab in March 2021.[19]
Other activity
Kirk is chair of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences.[20]
In June 2021, Kirk joined the Board of BAE Systems.[21][22]
Kirk is the Chair of and Founding Investor in Deeptech Labs, a start-up accelerator and Venture Capital fund based in Cambridge focused on building deep tech companies.[23][24]
In 2023, Kirk was appointed the Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Cambridge's mathematics department.[25][26]
Philanthropy
In 2007, Ewan Kirk and his wife Dr Patricia Turner founded the Turner Kirk Trust,[27][28][4] which provides funds to STEM, education and conservation causes in the UK and developing world.[29]
Since founding, Kirk's charitable trust has disbursed more than £7 million in funding.[30] It is one of the largest private funders of fundamental mathematics research in the UK. In 2015, through Cantab Capital Partners, he donated £5 million to the University of Cambridge to establish the Cantab Capital Institute for the Mathematics of Information.[29][31][32][33]
Political activity
In 2016, Kirk was part of the official campaign making the pro-science case for remaining in the European Union during the UK’s referendum on EU membership and donated £10,000 to Scientists for EU.[34]
Kirk is a member of the Liberal Democrats Business and Entrepreneurs Network, which is ‘a network of senior business people’ that ‘provides the party with expert advice on business and economic policy’.[35] During the 2019 general election, Kirk was one of 60 business leaders to sign an open letter endorsing the Liberal Democrats[36] and donated £300,000 to the party.[37]