John Scott was an executive director of Lazard Brothers for 14 years; he specialised in financial advisory work and the firm's Asian business. He was Lazard Brothers' representative in Tokyo between 1991 and 1994, as well as being a director of Lazard India for 10 years. Prior to joining Lazard, John worked for Jardine Matheson & Co Ltd. in Hong Kong for six years. He is currently a director of a range of private and public companies including Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, Schroder Japan Growth Fund, JPMorgan Claverhouse, Xaar and Miller Insurance. He is also deputy chairman of Endace Ltd and chairman of Dunedin Income Growth Investment Trust.

John is a Fellow of the Securities and Investment Institute and a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute. He joined the board of Martin Currie Pacific Trust in 2002.