Nigel Morris

Nigel Morris is a British businessman. He is the managing partner of QED Investors and was a co-founder of Capital One Financial Services.

Career

Morris is the managing partner of QED Investors^[1] a venture capital firm focused on high-growth companies that leverage the power of data strategies. In addition, he works in an advisory capacity with personalized prepaid debit card provider CARD.com, General Atlantic Partners and Oliver Wyman Consulting. He serves on the board of numerous for-profit companies, including Red Ventures, CAN Capital, Media Math, borro, and Prosper.^[2] He is also on the board of National Geographic, Ideas42, and the London Business School.

Previously, Nigel co-founded Capital One Financial Services in 1994. Under Nigel’s leadership, Capital One pioneered an information-based strategy that fundamentally transformed the consumer lending industry. Combining advanced statistical marketing techniques with nascent information technologies, the company reduced costs to conventional borrowers, extended capital to overlooked consumers, expanded internationally, and produced extraordinary returns for investors.

During Nigel’s ten-year tenure, Capital One’s net income after taxes (NIAT) grew at a compound annual rate of more than 32%. Over this same decade, earnings per share growth and return on equity both exceeded 20% per year, a financial performance attained by only a handful of American companies. Upon his retirement in 2004, Capital One’s 15,000 employees across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom managed over $80 billion of loans for 50 million customers. Generating over $1.5 billion in earnings, Capital One had successfully transitioned from an emerging start-up into an established public company valued at over $20 billion.

Nigel has a BSc in Psychology from North East London Polytechnic and an MBA with distinction from London Business School,^[3] where he is also a Fellow. Nigel lives with his wife and four children in Virginia.

References