Fresh round of departures add to SWIP chief's woes

Published on Monday 28 September 2009 23:13

STAFF turnover is an occupational hazard in all organisations, and especially in a big corporate bodies. But surely the continuing drip-drip of senior departures from Scottish Widows Investment Partnership must be prompting questions at Lloyds' Gresham Street headquarters.

Barely months go by without a batch of high-profile fund managers upping sticks for pastures new. In recent weeks, a team has gone to Alliance Trust in Dundee and in the past fortnight it has been revealed that Robert Waugh, head of equities, is off to Royal Bank of Scotland. SWIP is hardly the only fund manager to lose key people, but nobody seems to do it quite so often.

There are voices in the market telling us that SWIP just doesn't offer big enough rewards, though this is not proven. There are certainly rumours applying to the wider Lloyds group and Royal Bank of Scotland, that the continuing uncertainty over their future ownership and structure is forcing staff to look elsewhere for stability.

But SWIP's problems don't end there. According to the most recent analysis, which we publish today, several of SWIP's funds are sitting at the bottom of performance tables. No wonder they are failing to get on some investors' buy lists.

Dean Buckley, chief executive, has been working on a new strategy, which we've been on notice to receive for some weeks. It's now promised for next month, though since we were first alerted, Buckley has lost a number of senior executives. Let's hope he doesn't lose too many more before he's ready to tell us about his plans.

Standard sell-off

AS FINANCIAL services companies stoke the fires of recovery, it is inevitable that they will not all take up as they left off.

Standard Life appears to be preparing to drop its banking business, a move that has been on the agenda since chief executive Anne Gunther left in February.

The company is refusing to say anything, but the market seems convinced that an offer in region of 200 million to 300m would be enough to persuade it to part with the business. A clearing bank is said to be in talks and as RBS and Lloyds are hardly in a position to be adding to their collection of assets any time soon, they can be ruled out. Suggestions that HSBC may also be looking at it are less persuasive. That leaves Barclays as the likely buyer.

Standard Life's reasons for offloading the bank are fairly simple. It has become less active in the mortgage business, which needs sourcing from risky wholesale markets that it would rather avoid. Its savings business is a better fit with the rest of the company.

Interestingly, the sale is being driven by finance director David Nish. That surely points to a more strategic role for Nish, a long-time favourite to succeed Sir Sandy Crombie as chief executive. A decision on the future of Standard Life Bank is expected in weeks, along with an appointment to the top job. Take your pick over which comes first.

ITV saga

THE drama being played out at ITV has got all the makings of a ratings success. But the betting must be on a bidder coming in for the company before it sorts out the mess over its new leadership team. The failure to secure the services of former BSkyB boss Tony Ball together with Michael Grade's decision to stand down as chairman leaves a once lucrative franchise largely rudderless for the foreseeable future.

STV is snapping at its heels, threatening to counter its 38m claim for unpaid commission fees by claiming a similar amount for unpaid advertising revenue.

Rob Woodward, STV's chief executive, is likely to produce his case within a fortnight, promising to widen it to other issues and perhaps cause further embarrassment to its larger, southern cousin.

ITV was the creation of the gradual merger of the English and Welsh regional stations and it was assumed it was only a matter of time before it gobbled up STV, though insiders said there was no logic to a merger as there would be no gain for either side. Now it would be unthinkable.

While they engage in a war of words that may end up in the courts, predators are more likely to be circling ITV than the Glasgow company. Earlier this year RTL, the owner of Five, was tipped as a likely bidder. Its parent company, the German media group Bertelsmann, set aside 1bn to use for European acquisitions and has to be at the top of the list.