Charles took his degree in Human Sciences at Oxford University in 1976. Following university, he joined CT Bowring as a reinsurance broker working in the Lloyds Insurance markets. During his period there, he also worked for Guy Carpenter in New York and San Francisco.
In 1984, Charles went to INSEAD to study for an MBA, and subsequent to that, he joined Goldman Sachs in their London office in 1985.
While at Goldman Sachs, he helped build the private client services and his own team, becoming an executive director and managing in excess of $1 billion in worldwide assets for his clients.
In 2000, Charles was elected an advisory fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, where until recently he was also chairman of the Investment Committee. Also in that year, he gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Garden Design from the Inchbald School of Design in London.
Charles is a Supernumerary Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.
In 2003, he was one of the founding partners of Thurleigh Investment Managers LLP, of which he is Chief Investment Officer.
In 2007, he was elected a Governor of Sutton’s Hospital in Charterhouse, where he was Chairman of the Investment Committee, and a member of the audit centre until 2012.
Charles has obtained the Level 6 Certificate in Private Client Investment Advice & Management with the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI). He is also a fellow of CISI.