The Origins of Asset Management from 1700 to 1960

Towering Investors

Nigel Edward Morecroft

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9783319518497
• eBook ISBN:
  9783319518503
• Topic: Economia
• Subtopic: Finanza d'impresa

This book explores the origins and development of the asset management profession in Britain as a distinct activity within financial services, independent of banks and stockbrokers. Specifically, it identifies the main individuals and institutions after 1868 who established the profession. The book draws a distinction between banks (short-term deposit-taking) and asset management (an investment service with longer-term objectives). It explains why some banks fail but asset management businesses generally do not. It argues that asset management has been socially useful and has had a beneficial impact on the development of securities markets by offering choices to savers as an alternative to banks, improving the efficiency of capital allocation, re-cycling excess savings productively and enabling a range of investors - from institutions to individuals - to benefit from thoughtful, long-term investing.

Table of contents

• The Origins of Asset Management from 1700 to 1960
• 1 Introduction and Overview
• 2 Markets and Insurance Company Investments, 1700–1900
• 3 Philip Rose and the First Investment Company, 1868–1883
• 4 Robert Fleming and Scottish Asset Management, 1873–1890
• 5 Life Office Investment 1900–1960 and John Maynard Keynes
• 6 Keynes – Flawed Investor or Genius?
• 7 George Booth and Ian Fairbairn: The First Unit Trusts, 1931–1960
• 8 George Ross Goobey, Revolutionising Pension Fund Investment, 1947–1960
• 9 Observations from the Past
• Index