Recruitment for National Investment Bank head remains in limbo a year after first CEO quit

The Scottish Government is no further forward in finding a new chief executive for the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) a year on from the departure of launch CEO Eilidh Mctaggart.

Mactaggart, who formerly led MetLife Investment Management and held senior roles at Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ABN Amro Bank, was appointed to the SNIB job in 2020 but quit in January last year citing personal reasons.

According to a report in The Herald, the SNIB said it has “no expectations” of when the £260,000-a year post will be filled.

The bank’s chief financial officer Sara Roughead has been acting CEO since Mctaggart’s departure, with the publicly owned bank last year spending £175,000 on a six-month contract with London-based headhunters Spencer Stuart to help find a permanent replacement.

Last week Deputy First Minister John Swinney told Holyrood’s economy and fair work committee that the recruitment process was ongoing after one candidate “emerged, but decided not to take the post”.

A spokesperson for the bank told The Herald that the contract with Spencer Stuart remains in place at no additional cost but that there are “no expectations for when the appointment will be announced and the role filled”.

The SNIB was set up in 2020 with the specific aim of making long-term investments in Scottish firms, primarily to help Scotland transition to net zero.

The Scottish Government committed to putting £2bn of funding into the bank over a 10-year period.

Though Mctaggart resigned from the bank in January last year, news of her departure was not made public until a month later and politicians repeatedly refused to say what her reasons were.

In March, she released a statement saying it had been a “privilege” to lead the bank but that she was looking forward to spending time with her young family.