Sir Thomas first trained as a barrister, but quit soon thereafter as he felt the job was "lonely". In another interview, he stated that his image of being a barrister was shattered when his first case was an eleven-week incest trial. After facing a retrial that would take another eleven weeks, Sir Thomas is quoted as saying that "I just couldn't face going through that again so I left." He subsequently worked as an investment banker for Schroders for five years. In the late 1980s, he founded an investment bank, Enskilda Securities, earning him the nickname "Thomas Huge-Wallet". For the next eighteen years, he was the Chief Executive of Enskilda Corporate and later the Chairman of Robert Fleming Securities. A major shareholder in Flemings, he retired from finance shortly after its merger with Chase in 2000.
Philanthropy
Sir Thomas became first involved in charities during the 1990s, during which he was first a trustee and later the Chairman of the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children, as well as Chairman of the English Churches Housing Group. In 1999, Sir Thomas suffered an apparent heart attack, which he hinted was the result of a stressful life style in his capacity as an investment executive. This health scare caused him to re-evaluate his priorities in life. In 2000, he left investment banking to do charity work instead. From 2000 to 2012, he served as the Chairman of the Marie Curie Cancer Care Trust. To raise his salary of £90,000, in 2002 he cycled across Vietnam for the Marie Curie Cancer Care to be able to keep him. According to a report, he seeks to cover his salary cost through similar fund-raising challenges every year. Sir Thomas serves or has served in leading positions of various charitable organisations. He served as the Executive Chair of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London. Additionally, he served as the Chairman of the End of Life Care Implementation Advisory Board and as Chair of the Palliative Care Funding Review. Furthermore, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. He is the Chairman of the Chelsea and Westminster HospitalNHS Foundation Trust. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the King's Fund. In 2013, he became Chairman of Cause4, an organisation that assists charities in their fundraising.
Views on Banking and Charity
Hughes-Hallett has called for more bankers and investors from the City of London to be involved in philanthropy and donate not only time and talent, but also money. In a 2002 interview, Hughes-Hallet expressed his surprise when he realised that the people who can afford to donate money usually don't. Speaking at the Close Brothers Trustee Leadership Programme, a seminar organised by Close Brothers Asset Management, an investment firm based in the City of London, in 2014, he argued that serving on the Board of Trustees of a philanthropic organisation was a valuable work experience to then serve on a corporate board. In the past, he has expressed the sentiment that his own generation of bankers was far too concerned about making money, but that he believes the younger generation has realised the importance of philanthropy. He also expressed hopes that the younger generation of bankers in the City is more generous that his own. Sir Thomas has expressed doubts regarding the utility of "social investments", considered sometimes as a sustainable alternative to philanthropy. Specifically, he criticised how social investments are portrayed as a charitable activity, but can often lead to unethical practices, especially in the health sector.
Call for NHS reform
In 2013, he called for a reform of the National Health Service, arguing that people's expectation of the NHS to provide all health services for free is setting it up for a breakdown. He called for making greater use of British society in health care.
Marshall Institute
In 2015, Hughes-Hallet together will investment banker Sir Paul Marshall established the Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship at the London School of Economics, supported by a £30 million investment by Paul Marshall. The Institute's student body is expected to consist of people who have "reached the age of 50, a partner in an international firm, who've decided they've made their money and want to put something back."
He is married to Jules, whom he met immediately after leaving Oxford and who is a former fashion editor of Vogue. She also is the Chair of Smart Works, a non-profit organisation which gives free clothes and job interview advice to women who are unemployed. The couple have three children, two of whom are sons. They lost a female infant, Emily. They reside in London and have another home in Suffolk.
