The plot twist I didn’t see coming 

John Parkhouse President, Carne Group

To be honest, I wasn’t looking for another full-time role. 

After more than 30 years auditing and advising asset managers and investment fund groups and almost a decade leading the whole 4,000 person business of PwC Luxembourg, I had a plan for what retirement would look like. It involved doing things I had long wanted to try but had never made time for – the main one being to try my hand as a novelist. Beyond that, I was looking for new challenges and a bit more space to think. 

And then John Donohoe, founder and CEO of Carne Group called me. 

What followed was not a quick decision. We started in May of last year and in November, I began working part-time as an advisor which gave me the opportunity to understand what had really been built as well as the people that had built it. I’ve spent my career helping clients navigate complexity, so it mattered to me that Carne was genuinely set up to do that in a different way. 

An industry undergoing structural change 

Over the past three decades, I’ve worked with asset managers through multiple cycles. What is happening now feels different. This is not simply a period of market volatility; it is a structural shift in how the industry operates. 

Firms are pursuing growth across new asset classes, new markets and new distribution channels, while at the same time facing rising operational, regulatory and technological demands. Those pressures are making it difficult for operating models to keep pace. 

The result is a growing gap between what the business is trying to achieve and what its infrastructure can support. That gap is where managers feel the pressure most acutely. 

What clients are telling us 

In that environment, expectations of partners are changing. Clients still expect the fundamentals to be delivered flawlessly, but that’s just table stakes. Increasingly, they are looking for partners who can help them move faster, operate with greater confidence and adapt as their strategies evolve. 

What that means in practice is consistency as firms scale, responsiveness when complexity increases, and a deep understanding of how operating models actually work day to day. Clients are not looking for theory; they are looking for solutions that work in real conditions, particularly when things become difficult. Managers today need to move with confidence and speed as client demands grow and evolve. This is where a partner like Carne fits in. 

Why Carne and why now 

What stood out to me is that Carne is not trying to catch up with these shifts. It has been building towards them. 

The firm’s model is underpinned by a mindset of genuine partnership with clients. That is visible not in positioning statements, but in how people behave, how issues are handled and how responsibility is taken. 

Clients feel that difference. I had the opportunity of experiencing that first-hand during my first week as President, having attended Fund Forum in Monaco alongside the Business Development team. It was fantastic to see the depth and breadth of the relationships the group enjoys across the industry. As Carne continues to grow, preserving that experience while strengthening consistency and capability is a central priority. 

My focus as President 

My role is straightforward: to make sure our clients feel the benefit of what Carne has built – our people, our technology, our way of working – consistently and at scale. 

That means first and foremost that we listen to our clients and that the future of what we bring and how we deliver it is shaped by their needs. A significant part of my time will be spent with clients alongside the team – understanding where we’re delivering and, just as importantly, where we’re not. 

We will also strengthen how we capture and act on feedback. That includes introducing more structured client satisfaction surveys and, critically, closing the loop. Listening consistently, acting quickly and being transparent about what changes as a result. 

What will not change 

As organisations grow, there is always a risk that the things clients value most begin to dilute. I am very clear that this cannot happen at Carne. 

The defining strength of this business is how it shows up for clients. It is about taking ownership, solving problems and stepping in when it matters. That mindset is not secondary to the business; it is at the heart of it. 

As we scale, protecting that will be non-negotiable. 

Looking ahead 

Carne is at an inflection point. The opportunity ahead is significant, but so is the complexity clients are managing. 

Our role is to make navigating that environment simpler, more predictable and more scalable. If we do that consistently, we help our clients grow with confidence. 

That is ultimately what drew me back into the industry. A twist I hadn’t quite planned when I set out to write my Clancy-style fiction, but a compelling one, nonetheless. 

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