Francis was Chief Executive Officer of the European Investment Fund, holding that role for nearly six years until his retirement at the end of February 2008. Prior to this, he was Secretary General of the European Investment Bank for six years. Previously, he was Director of Credit Risk Management at the EIB, having held the position of Director of Lending in the UK, Ireland, North Sea and Portugal. Francis joined the EIB in 1975. A graduate of Wadham College, Oxford, the Institut d'Etudes Politiques, Paris, and the New School for Social Sciences, New York, Francis spent the first years of his career at Citibank, working in New York, Geneva and Paris in investment research and portfolio management. He joined IP Group's board in 2008.