António Simões (executive)

António Pedro dos Santos Simões is a financial services executive. He joined Legal & General as group chief executive in January 2024, succeeding Nigel Wilson.

He was previously regional manager for Europe at Banco Santander; before that he had been an associate at Goldman Sachs, a partner at McKinsey & Company, and had worked for HSBC for twelve years in both London and Hong Kong.

Education
Simões attended the Nova School of Business & Economics in Lisbon.

He holds a master's degree in business administration from Columbia University. During his studies he was a teaching assistant for managerial economics and capital markets. He graduated with honours and is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma honour society. In the fall of 2000, as part of the MBA programme, he spent a semester at the Bocconi University in Milan.

Early career
In 1997, Simões joined McKinsey & Company as a business analyst in its Iberian office.

In 2000, he worked at Goldman Sachs in London, as an associate serving financial institutions in investment banking.

He returned to McKinsey as an associate in their London office where he was later elected a partner. During his career at McKinsey, he worked across several geographies serving mainly financial services client. His focus included Strategy and Risk Management, with contributions to McKinsey Quarterly and other publications.

Career with HSBC
Simões joined HSBC in 2007 to lead group strategy and mergers & acquisitions activities reporting to Stephen Green, then group chairman of HSBC Holdings. In October 2009 he assumed responsibilities also for planning, reporting to the executive director, Michael Geoghegan, and moving to Hong Kong for two years. In an interview to his Alma mater he said 'I took 58 long-haul flights in 2011 alone...I don't get the work life balance right all the time'. Simões was appointed a group general manager in 2011 and became also chief of staff to the chief executive, Stuart Gulliver.

In January 2012, he relocated back to London and was appointed European head of retail banking and wealth management, including responsibility for asset management and insurance.

On 1 November 2012, he was appointed chief executive of HSBC in the UK and deputy chief executive of HSBC Bank plc, the group's principal UK and continental European subsidiary. He was a director of HSBC Bank plc until September 2018 and was also a director of the France (until September 2018) and Turkish subsidiary boards (until September 2014) of HSBC Bank plc.

On 1 September 2015, Simões was appointed the chief executive of HSBC Bank plc and chief executive of Europe, with responsibility for the UK and Continental Europe and a seat on the group management board.

He was made chief executive for global private banking with effect from 1 January 2019.

Career with Santander
In 2020 he joined Banco Santander as regional manager for Europe, with managerial responsibility and oversight of the bank's businesses in Europe with reporting lines from the country heads of Spain, UK, Portugal, and Poland. He was made chief executive of Santander Spain in 2021, together with his existing responsibilities as Regional Head of Europe.

Career with Legal & General
Simões took up post as group chief executive at Legal & General on 1 January 2024 and joined the board of Legal & General Group plc on appointment.

Commitments
In 2009, he was appointed a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and is a regular delegate at the annual meeting in Davos.

He is a vocal campaigner on youth unemployment issues and has been involved with the Prince's Trust since 2012. He became a trustee of Prince's Trust International in 2018.

In 2012, he was invited to be a founding member of Conselho da Diáspora Portuguesa (World Portuguese Network), a group of Portuguese people living abroad advising the Portuguese presidency.

He was a member of the practitioner panel of the Financial Conduct Authority from July 2013 and was chair of the panel from August 2015 until August 2017. He joined the practitioner panel of the Prudential Regulations Authority in November 2013.

In 2015 he was on a steering committee set up to review a possible merger of some trade associations in the UK banking sector.

In April 2015, he joined the Banking Standards Board as practitioner member.

Personal life
He has contributed to several books, including Lord Browne's The Glass Closet and Stephen Frost's The Inclusion Imperative. In January 2015 Simões came first at the Out at Work & Telegraph Top 50 LGBT Executives list, which celebrates individuals making a difference at the workplace. OUTstanding in Business together with the Financial Times nominated him as the most inspiring LGBT senior business executive in October 2013. As part of the European Diversity Awards 2013, he was also awarded the Diversity Champion of the Year.