Inga Beale, the Lloyd’s of London boss, has topped a power list of the world’s leading 100 LGBT executives.

It is the first time a woman is at the top of the annual list, which has been compiled by the networking group OUTstanding and the Financial Times. She is one of few openly bisexual business leaders and the first to top the ranking.

Christopher Bailey, the chief executive of fashion house Burberry, who won the title last year, is in eighth place.

Alan Joyce, chief executive of Australian airline Qantas, has made his first appearance in the power list, coming second, followed by António Simões, who heads up HSBC’s UK bank, in third place. Martine Rothblatt, the chief executive of US biotech firm United Therapeutics, is the highest ranking transgender executive, in fourth place.

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The list is designed to highlight lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender role models in business to encourage more people to be open in the workplace. Research shows that 32% of transgender workers think coming out would have a negative effect on promotions, and 90% report mistreatment or harassment at work.

Beale, an industry veteran who became chief executive of the insurance market in January 2014 – the first female CEO in its 327-year history – said: “I am proud of the commitment of Lloyd’s and the London insurance market to celebrate diversity and ensure we are an attractive, globally relevant and inclusive sector. Inclusion is the foundation of innovation, and having an open, accepting and diverse workforce will enable us to succeed in a changing and challenging world.”



Beale has launched a market modernisation programme at Lloyd’s, opened offices in Dubai and Beijing and spearheaded the Inclusion@Lloyd’s initiative. She has also been involved in the launch of Pride@Lloyds, an internal LGBT employee resource group.

Simões said: “I believe that the best performing and truly customer-focused businesses will be those who have a meritocratic culture. To achieve this, companies need to encourage different ways of thinking from people with a mix of backgrounds and beliefs that reflect today’s society.”

The Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg topped a separate ranking, the top 30 Ally Executives list, for his work championing LGBT diversity in his organisation and globally. The UK entrepreneur Richard Branson, who won the title last year, came second.

Those in the top 100 were nominated by peers and colleagues. Nominations were reviewed by OUTstanding’s judging panel, which included the former BP chief executive John Browne.

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OUTstanding’s founder and chief executive, Suki Sandhu, said: “Compared to 2013, we see far more people wanting to be associated with the lists – this year we have 42 brand new additions to the top 100 alone. This is fantastic news as I hope it shows people are both more comfortable about being their true selves at work, and also that they see the value of ‘going public’ in terms of inspiring the next generation of leaders.”

The 2015 OUTstanding & FT Leading LGBT executive power list top 10

1 Inga Beale, CEO, Lloyd’s of London



2 Alan Joyce, CEO, Qantas



3 António Simões, CEO, HSBC UK



4 Martine Rothblatt, CEO, United Therapeutics



5 Claudia Brind-Woody, IBM vice-president



6 Paul Reed, CEO of BP’s integrated supply and trading business



7 Beth Brooke-Marciniak, Ernst & Young global vice-chair



8 Christopher Bailey, CEO, Burberry



9 Anthony Watson, CEO, Uphold



10 Sander van ‘t Noordende, CEO of Accenture’s products operating group

