Alastair Ross Goobey
Encyclopedia
Alastair Ross Goobey CBE
(6 December 1945 - 2 February 2008), was a leading British
investment manager and pension fund
manager.
As CEO between 1993 and 2001 of Hermes Pensions Management, he played a leading role in developing institutional shareholder activism on the London Stock Exchange
, instrumental in improving the culture of corporate governance in the City of London
.
, he was the son George Ross Goobey, a distinguished pension fund manager of Imperial Tobacco
, who is credited with first investing pension funds into company shares. Raised in Clevedon
, Somerset
, near Bristol
, he was educated at Marlborough College
, he read economics
at Trinity College, Cambridge
, where he became an active member of both the musical society and Cambridge Footlights.
on graduation in 1968, and became an investment manager at Hume Holdings in 1972. He took his first dedicated pensions post at Courtaulds
in 1977.
A member of the Conservative Bow Group
, he stood unsuccessfully in 1979 as a Conservative Party
candidate in the Labour Party
seat of Leicester West, losing but becoming friends with Nigel Lawson
.
Ross Goobey returned to the city to became a director of Geoffrey Morley & Partners in 1981. He took a sabbatical in 1985, becoming a special adviser to Nigel Lawson in his position as the Chancellor of the Exchequer
for two years from 1986. In 1987 he joined James Capel & Co. He returned to HM Treasury for the year in 1991 at the request of Norman Lamont
in the run up to the United Kingdom general election, 1992
.
He was appointed the CEO of PosTel in 1993; later renamed the BT Pension Scheme, it controlled the investments and returns of the pension funds of both the Royal Mail
, the Post Office
and British Telecom employees. After arguing that the fund needed to increase its client exposure, he was key in creating the independent but still 100% owned by BT organisation in Hermes Pensions Management, for which he served as CEO until 2002. He then became chairman of Hermes Focus Asset Management until his death in 2008, which focused on investment returns.
It was in these combined roles that he campaigned controversially for many elements that are now incorporated into the UK Combined Code
, which governs management of public companies. His first target was directors' three-year contracts, ending the then accepted practice of giving FTSE CEOs rolling three-year contracts, which meant that on exit or failure huge contractual pay-offs were due irrespective of share-holder value added. Hermes wrote to all FTSE chairmen pressing for shorter contracts. In 1996 the Greenbury Report
was suggesting the now standard 12 months, separation of the roles of chairman and chief executive, and greater disclosure. His ideas were adopted and developed by the Hampel Report
on corporate governance in 1998 and the subsequent Higgs Report on directors' roles. The eventual 2003 UK Combined Code also brought in his championed recommendations of transparency, professionalism in appointments, accountability and openness. When asked how he squared these often controversial positions with his Conservative politics, he responded:
Ross Goobey was an experienced non-executive director, serving on the boards of Wellcome Trust
, a council member for Lloyds of London, chairman of Invista
, and Senior Independent Director of Gcap Media
, and served on the board of Scottish Life and Cheltenham & Gloucester
. He was a senior advisor to the European Advisory Board of Morgan Stanley
from 2002 to his death.
A Liveryman of the Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers Company, Ross Goobey was appointed CBE in 2000 for services to pensions.
); chairman of the International Corporate Governance Network from 2002 to 2005.
He was a trustee of CancerBACUP, on the investment committees of the National Gallery
and the Royal Opera
, and an adviser to the Royal Opera House
pension fund, and a director of the Almeida Theatre
. He was a governor of the Royal Academy of Music
, from which he received an honorary fellowship.
. He was a panellist on seven series of BBC Radio 4
's business quiz The Board Game.
He wrote The Money Moguls (1987) and Bricks and Mortals (1992), an account of the UK 1980s property boom and bust. At the time of his death, he had an unpublished novel set against the backdrop of France's equivalent of the South Sea Bubble, in John Law's Mississippi
scandal.
.
He was a well known and active supporter of Bristol City F.C.
, and an active club cricketer who was a member of the MCC
. He played the piano and the clarinet
, on which he soloed at Clive James
's wedding.
Diagnosed with myeloma blood cancer in 1998, he died at his home in London.
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
(6 December 1945 - 2 February 2008), was a leading British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
investment manager and pension fund
Pension fund
A pension fund is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income.Pension funds are important shareholders of listed and private companies. They are especially important to the stock market where large institutional investors dominate. The largest 300 pension funds collectively hold...
manager.
As CEO between 1993 and 2001 of Hermes Pensions Management, he played a leading role in developing institutional shareholder activism on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
, instrumental in improving the culture of corporate governance in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
.
Biography
Born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he was the son George Ross Goobey, a distinguished pension fund manager of Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
, who is credited with first investing pension funds into company shares. Raised in Clevedon
Clevedon
Clevedon is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, England...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, near Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, he was educated at Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
, he read economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, where he became an active member of both the musical society and Cambridge Footlights.
Career
Ross Goobey joined Kleinwort BensonKleinwort Benson
Kleinwort Benson is a leading Private Bank that offers a wide range of financial services to private and corporate clients from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. The bank has its headquarters on St George Street in Mayfair, and is supported by seven UK regional and two...
on graduation in 1968, and became an investment manager at Hume Holdings in 1972. He took his first dedicated pensions post at Courtaulds
Courtaulds
Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals.-Foundation:The Company was founded by George Courtauld and his cousin Peter Taylor in 1794 as a silk, crepe and textile business at Pebmarsh in north Essex trading as George Courtauld & Co...
in 1977.
A member of the Conservative Bow Group
Bow Group
The Bow Group is one of the oldest think tanks in the United Kingdom. Taking its name from the Bow area of London where it first met, it was founded in 1951...
, he stood unsuccessfully in 1979 as a Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
candidate in the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
seat of Leicester West, losing but becoming friends with Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...
.
Ross Goobey returned to the city to became a director of Geoffrey Morley & Partners in 1981. He took a sabbatical in 1985, becoming a special adviser to Nigel Lawson in his position as the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
for two years from 1986. In 1987 he joined James Capel & Co. He returned to HM Treasury for the year in 1991 at the request of Norman Lamont
Norman Lamont
Norman Stewart Hughson Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick, PC is a British politician and former Conservative MP for Kingston-upon-Thames. He is best-known for his period serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer, from 1990 until 1993...
in the run up to the United Kingdom general election, 1992
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
.
He was appointed the CEO of PosTel in 1993; later renamed the BT Pension Scheme, it controlled the investments and returns of the pension funds of both the Royal Mail
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
, the Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and British Telecom employees. After arguing that the fund needed to increase its client exposure, he was key in creating the independent but still 100% owned by BT organisation in Hermes Pensions Management, for which he served as CEO until 2002. He then became chairman of Hermes Focus Asset Management until his death in 2008, which focused on investment returns.
It was in these combined roles that he campaigned controversially for many elements that are now incorporated into the UK Combined Code
Combined Code
The UK Corporate Governance Code 2010 is a set of principles of good corporate governance aimed at companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is overseen by the Financial Reporting Council and its importance derives from the Financial Services Authority's Listing Rules...
, which governs management of public companies. His first target was directors' three-year contracts, ending the then accepted practice of giving FTSE CEOs rolling three-year contracts, which meant that on exit or failure huge contractual pay-offs were due irrespective of share-holder value added. Hermes wrote to all FTSE chairmen pressing for shorter contracts. In 1996 the Greenbury Report
Greenbury Report
The Greenbury Report released in 1995 was the product of a committee established by the United Kingdom Confederation of Business and Industry on corporate governance. It followed in the tradition of the Cadbury Report and addressed a growing concern about the level of director remuneration...
was suggesting the now standard 12 months, separation of the roles of chairman and chief executive, and greater disclosure. His ideas were adopted and developed by the Hampel Report
Hampel Report
The Hampel Report in 1998 was designed to be a revision of the corporate governance system in the UK. The remit of the committee was to review the Code laid down by the Cadbury Report . It asked whether the code's original purpose was being achieved. Hampel found that there was no need for a...
on corporate governance in 1998 and the subsequent Higgs Report on directors' roles. The eventual 2003 UK Combined Code also brought in his championed recommendations of transparency, professionalism in appointments, accountability and openness. When asked how he squared these often controversial positions with his Conservative politics, he responded:
Ross Goobey was an experienced non-executive director, serving on the boards of Wellcome Trust
Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust was established in 1936 as an independent charity funding research to improve human and animal health. With an endowment of around £13.9 billion, it is the United Kingdom's largest non-governmental source of funds for biomedical research...
, a council member for Lloyds of London, chairman of Invista
INVISTA
Invista, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, is the world's largest integrated fiber, resin and intermediates company. DuPont originally formed the company as a subsidiary in 2003 from its textile fibers division and named it DuPont Textiles and Interiors while a permanent identity was established...
, and Senior Independent Director of Gcap Media
GCap Media
GCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. On 31 March 2008 the company agreed a takeover by...
, and served on the board of Scottish Life and Cheltenham & Gloucester
Cheltenham & Gloucester
Cheltenham & Gloucester plc is a mortgage and savings provider in the United Kingdom, a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. C&G specialises in mortgages and savings products. Previously, C&G was a building society, known as the Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society. C&G is one of the largest...
. He was a senior advisor to the European Advisory Board of Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
from 2002 to his death.
A Liveryman of the Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers Company, Ross Goobey was appointed CBE in 2000 for services to pensions.
Public service
Having served two terms with HM Treasury, Ross Goobey served on various UK Government panels, including: the Goode Committee on Pensions Law; the Middleton Committee on film industry finance; chairman of the Private Finance Panel from 1996-97 (from which refusing to resign, he was sacked by New Labour chancellor Gordon BrownGordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
); chairman of the International Corporate Governance Network from 2002 to 2005.
He was a trustee of CancerBACUP, on the investment committees of the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
and the Royal Opera
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
, and an adviser to the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
pension fund, and a director of the Almeida Theatre
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
. He was a governor of the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, from which he received an honorary fellowship.
Writing
Having written private client briefs from the start of his career, his thoughts came to public attention when at James Capel he wrote the weekly column, "From Your Side of the Desk". In his later career, he became a regular columnist in Estates GazetteEstates Gazette
Estates Gazette is a weekly business magazine published for the UK commercial property market. It was first published in 1858 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008.Damian Wild has been its Editor since August 2009....
. He was a panellist on seven series of BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's business quiz The Board Game.
He wrote The Money Moguls (1987) and Bricks and Mortals (1992), an account of the UK 1980s property boom and bust. At the time of his death, he had an unpublished novel set against the backdrop of France's equivalent of the South Sea Bubble, in John Law's Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
scandal.
Personal life
He married Sarah Stille in 1969, whom he had met through the university theatrical society; the couple had a son and a daughter. The family lived in London, and had a house in the South of FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
He was a well known and active supporter of Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...
, and an active club cricketer who was a member of the MCC
MCC
MCC may refer to:* Marylebone Cricket Club, the home of cricket in the United Kingdom - Business-related topics:* Merchant Category Code, a code assigned to companies accepting credit cards.- Business and corporations:...
. He played the piano and the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, on which he soloed at Clive James
Clive James
Clive James, AM is an Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet and memoirist, best known for his autobiographical series Unreliable Memoirs, for his chat shows and documentaries on British television and for his prolific journalism...
's wedding.
Diagnosed with myeloma blood cancer in 1998, he died at his home in London.