Seonaid Mackenzie

Seonaid Mackenzie has had a 40-year career in the City as a stockbroker, fund manager, an operator of UK funds, a fundraiser for private companies and funds, while sitting as a non-exec in financial services or SMEs.  Seonaid founded Sturgeon Ventures LLP as a single-family office in 1998 which invested in public and private companies.  The principal of that office died in 2004, leaving behind a trust fund for a child.  Those funds today are passively managed so Sturgeon took on a new active business line, pioneering and coining the phrase Regulatory Incubation for financial services.  Seonaid had initially started incubating people with operating companies as a sole trader in 2001, followed by the first wholesale appointed representative firm in 2005, partnering some investment management firms creating the wholesale fund management hosting.  Seonaid incorporated as Sturgeon Ventures LLP in 2006  and is now more commonly known by some as a Regulatory Umbrella Service or Regulatory Hosting Platform.

Sturgeon Compliance Services Limited was founded in April 2011 as a sister company offering compliance services to spinouts of Sturgeon Ventures LLP.  It rebranded in 2023 to The Sturgeon Group Limited with a trading name of Sturgeon Compliance Services, predominantly servicing Corporate Finance firms and Mifid Investment Managers and 3rd Party Placement Agents.

In 2013, Sturgeon Ventures became an Investment Advisor with the SEC, and in 2014 an Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) and Operator of Collective Investment Schemes and AIFM Solutions.  Sturgeon Ventures is also a member of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and Seonaid is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Corporate Finance Faculty.  The firm has incubated more than 150 start-ups since this business model began.  The firms include fund managers with various strategies open and closed ended and single managed accounts, third party fund raisers, corporate finance firms and family offices, amongst others.

Sturgeon’s team offer regulatory and risk services within their incubation model together with start-up mentoring, a virtual Chief Operating service for fund launches, and often assist overseas, especially US firms starting in London.

Sturgeon, with Seonaid leading Business Development, works with leading law firms, accountancy firms, and most well-known compliance firms although jurisdiction neutral.

Seonaid was on the Strategic Advisory Board of Kleinwort Benson for 2 years.