Funmi’s professional and career trajectory started with her Law Office Attachment experience at the leading Law Firm of Banwo & Ighodalo. She completed the mandatory one-year National Youth Service primary assignment with the Law Firm of the then Bentley Edu & Co. (In association with Irving & Bonnar) after which she was retained by the Firm. With a career spanning over twenty-five years, Funmi spent close to a decade in Law practice and thereafter worked at different times in the Nigeria Capital Market space starting with the then NAL Asset Management & Trustees Limited (Now SAMTL), UBA Trustees Limited (Now United Capital Trustees Limited) and Skye Trustees Limited (Now STL Trustees Limited).
Funmi was appointed as the Managing Director/CEO of STL Trustees Limited (then Skye Trustees Limited) in 2010 and the Company has evolved into a market leader commanding exponential growth in profitability, business size, pedigree, and brand value over the years. Under Funmi’s leadership, STL Trustees has birthed a new subsidiary, STL Asset Management Limited and this evolution marks the beginning of the Company’s strategic transition into a full-fledged Capital Market Holding Company structure. The Organization has been recognized by reputable awarding Institutions as a market leader by emerging winner of several awards in the trusteeship industry. For her professional and organizational astuteness, Funmi has also had the honour of receiving the “Trustees Company CEO of the year” award multiple times from the Business Day Banks and Other Financial Institutions Awards (BAFI), the Nigeria Finance Innovation Awards, and the Marketing Edge Awards. Funmi has over the years distinguished herself in her area of core competence as a seasoned Trust specialist engaging in the structuring of complex Legal, Financial and Trust instruments. A consummate Capital Market Practitioner, Funmi has been involved in the structuring of a significant number of novel and trailblazing structured finance and capital market transactions over the years.
Funmi is an Alumna of the prestigious Harvard Business School, the Lagos Business School (Chief Executive Programme), and the IESE Business School, Barcelona Spain. She is a Member of the Nigerian Bar Association and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) where she currently serves as a member of the Governing Council. In July 2021, Funmi made history as the first female to be elected as the Vice President and Vice Chairman of the Council of the Institute and in March 2023, she was elected President-Elect of the Institute.
In 2005, following her successful completion of the ICSAN professional examinations with a Merit in Corporate Financial Management, Funmi qualified as a Chartered Secretary and Administrator thus becoming an Associate member of the Institute. Since that time and following her subsequent upgrade to a Fellow and becoming a member of the Governing Council, Funmi has served and impacted the Institute in many ways both directly and through achievements recorded in the various Committees she has had the privilege to lead and serve as follows:
- Chairman, Finance & General Purposes Committee
- Chairman, Conference, and AGM Committee
- Chairman of the Law Reform Committee that carried out a holistic review of the extant ICSAN Act
- Chairman, Roundtable on Corporate Governance Committee
- Chairman, Public Lecture Committee
- Chairman, Nominations and Governance Committee
- Chairman, Presidential Intervention Committee on the ICSAN Building Project
- Member, Finance & General Purposes Committee (two-term member)
- Member, Building Project Committee (two-term member)
- Consistently secured sponsorships for the Institute’s programmes and made financial support towards the success of many of the Institute’s activities both at the National and Chapter levels.
- Voluntarily and gladly served the Institute on a pro-bono basis from inception to date.
- Mentoring of younger members of the Institute
Funmi is a Past President of the Association of Corporate Trustees of Nigeria, and she has also served in different capacities and at different times on the Capital Market Committee of the Securities and Exchange Commission including as a member of, Technical Committee on National Savings Strategy, member, National Investor Protection Fund and member, Rules and Compliance Committee. For her commitment to the industry, she was recognized and awarded by the Securities and Exchange Commission for her contribution to the development of the Nigerian Capital Market. Funmi also served as a member of the Lagos State Technical Committee on Real Estate Regulation.
Funmi has attended several professional and leadership training courses both locally and internationally. A seasoned professional, Funmi has over the years been committed to, and belongs to various professional bodies including the following:
- Fellow, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (FCIS)
- Fellow, Institute of Directors (F.IoD)
- Fellow, Institute of Investment Advisers and Portfolio Managers (FIAPM)
- Fellow, Association of Enterprise Risk Management Professionals (FERP)
- Fellow, Portfolio Management Institute (Chartered);
- Member, Nigeria Bar Association
- Member, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (ACS)
- Member, Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, UK (CISI)
- Member, Corporate Governance Institute, UK
- Member, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB)
- Council member, Institute of Investment Advisers and Portfolio Managers
- EXCO Member, Women In Finance, Nigeria (WIFng)
Funmi served as an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc. (Now Tangerine General Insurance) and she is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of some corporate entities.
Funmi is a member of the Ikoyi Club 1938, the Lagos Country Club, the Lagos Business School Alumni Association, and the Harvard Business School Association of Nigeria. Funmi is always happy for every opportunity to mentor younger professionals.
A silent philanthropist, Funmi is a devout Christian who is passionate about the things of God. She was ordained a Deaconess in Christ Apostolic Church over fourteen years ago and she currently serves as the Unit Coordinator of the Counselling Department in Christ Apostolic Church, The Worship Centre, Lagos. She is also a Sunday School Teacher and a member of the Prayer Band unit of the Church. Funmi is happily married to Olugbenga Lawrence Ekundayo and the marriage is blessed with three young men.
