Episode 24: Global Career Reflections with Mark Baxter
“Just do it. It just opens up your life or it has actually opened up my life. I've been really, really lucky with all the travel and it's just been absolutely fascinating. And I think it's sort of just an exciting thing to do. So just do it.”
Mark Baxter,
Experienced Actuarial Leader
For the past 40 years Mark has had an extensive global career as a C-Suite executive and Director in complex financial services organisations in Sydney, Hong Kong, London & Cape Town with his main specialty being strategic risk management and developing and leading large complex and diverse teams.
Being orphaned in his teenage years and from a working-class background - Mark developed a strong community focus and has supported a number of not-for-profit and arts organisations, many in the LGBTQ+ community both here and overseas. Mark has also mentored a number of LGBTQIA+ students in developing their careers.
In 2018 Mark was named one of Australia’s Top 50 LGBTQ+ Role Models by Deloitte and Google. Mark prides himself on his values-driven leadership style. He acknowledges that in all the C-Suites and Boards on which he has served, he has always been “the only gay in the village” with all the baggage that includes and he is keen to see talented people from under-represented groups be included in the highest levels of corporate Australia.
Mark is currently on the Board of NSW Labor and Chairs its Audit & Risk Committee and is one of the founders of the Australian LGBTQIA+ Board & Executive Inclusion (ALBIE) initiative which is advocating for improved representation of LGBTQIA+ people on ASX Boards and better representation of all under-represented groups. He recently contributed to the 2023 Governance Institute Board Diversity Report.
He also recently obtained his Cert IV in Fitness and is a now a qualified personal trainer and group fitness instructor – and was the oldest in the class by a significant margin!
In this interview Mark shares his reflections about:
How his global actuarial career came about,
What he learned from his first international leadership role in Hong Kong at age 29,
How painting a childcare centre helped him to effectively build teams across different countries and cultures,
The value of his global experience when he came back to Australia,
Why he doesn’t like the term “non-actuaries”,
How diversity of thought improves business outcomes, and
His advice for actuaries considering pursuing a role overseas
