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Henderson Global Investors' CEO says corporate wrangles mean he has not been able to concentrate fully on Henderson as a fund management business but now it has got his full focus and he is determined to deliver on investment and distribution. Interview by Philip Scott
Following Henderson's annual results, group chief executive Roger Yates said that with pound 221m cash excess on the group's balance sheet, one of two things was going to happen - either the firm would look at an acquisition or the majority of the cash would be deployed to shareholders. The latter option won out.
Yates says he is sceptical about fund management acquisitions. "They are very difficult to do. It has to make sense for the firm and shareholders."
After a prolonged period of corporate wrangling with demergers, Yates believes he can now concentrate fully on Henderson as a pure fund management business. "I am now 110 per cent focused on Henderson and that is the first time I have been able to say that for a couple of years."
Yates qualified as a teacher and taught history at a Bristol comprehensive until he met Richard Thornton, CEO of investment firm GT, who offered him a job. He joined GT in 1981 as a trainee portfolio manager and stayed there for seven years until he was headhunted by Morgan Grenfell. In 1994, his career came full circle when GT offered him the role of CIO as well as a portfolio manager role. In 1998, GT was taken over by Invesco and Yates was made CIO of its international business.
He says: "Then Henderson knocked on my door and offered me the job. Before I took it, I thought very hard about it. Being a CEO is...