MEMBER PROFILE
David Waite, ASIP
Managing director, Affi liated Managers Group
INTERVIEW BY: MAHA KHAN PHILLIPS • PHOTOGRAPHY: ABI HARDWICK
specialist. “Th is was really interesting to me because Friends Provident
had moved to using futures and options more actively as a portfolio
overlay type strategy, and I had become interested in that.”
Life got diffi cult when the Gulf War began in early 1991. “I didn’t fully
appreciate the signifi cance of the event to the bank,” says Waite. “It was a
very tough fi ve or six years for the Middle East client base at the time,
because once the war was fi nished they had to pay for the rebuilding of
Kuwait. Oil prices were low, and it wasn’t the boom time we see today.”
In 1991 Waite also became head of the equity department, and he
restructured the fi rm’s approach to the asset class. “We coined the phrase
‘enhanced index’. We were stock lending and that gave rise to the question,
why are people borrowing these securities: what exactly are they doing?”
Convertible arbitrage, was the answer. Waite started to arbitrage some
of the portfolio directly. “Th is led to our enhanced index portfolio. Th e
returns were good – benchmark plus 50 or 75 basis points consistently.”
In 1991, the fi rm had total assets of $1 billion. When Waite left 15
years later, it had grown to $20 billion. He moved to ABN Amro Asset
Management to take responsibility for the Middle East and Africa. “I was
very happy there, but I had moved fi rmly away from the responsibility of
managing money,” says Waite, with a trace of nostalgia in his voice.
“Th ere’s nothing like the buzz of researching a company, analysing it, and
then investing in it. Th e great thing about the job is that you can see,
every day, how right or how wrong you are.”
In his current role, Waite is still removed from managing money, but
he does get to build up a business. Affi liated Managers Group is a Boston-
based umbrella organisation which supports boutique asset managers
with assets under management of approximately $217 billion. It’s
underlying managers do not have strong brands in the Europe or the
Middle East as yet, and Waite was brought in to change this. His offi ce is
F
rom the time he was at school, David so new that some of its equipment is still in its wrapping.
Waite knew he wanted to build his career “I opened the London offi ce earlier this year, and concentrate on the
in fi nance. “I was inspired by my teacher, Middle Eastern institutional market. It’s an opportunity to represent fi rst
who taught commerce and economics. Anything class fi rms which by and large have not had any exposure to the Middle
that happens in the world has relevance to the East before. It’s a fantastic time to introduce ourselves. We’re visiting
markets, so if you’re interested in the world, potential clients with something new, and it may be that as a result of this
you’re interested in fi nancial markets,” he says. market turmoil, clients realise that big is not always best.”
He began his career in the investment Waite became an ASIP when he was still at Friends Provident. He
department of Friends Provident, working as an believes it’s been helpful. “I say to all the guys coming through. We’ll pay
assistant to a senior portfolio manager. “I gradually for you to do the CFA, but at the end of the day, it’s yours. You get to
acquired some sector responsibility and some take it with you no matter what happens.”
portfolio responsibility, and worked with some very When he’s not busy at work, Waite likes to spend time with his wife
interesting and varied people,” says Waite. and three children, and othe occasional game of golf. A keen golfer, he’s
After four years, Waite moved to Saudi already taking his young children to the course. “My 7 year-old has a
International Bank in London (subsequently fantastic swing, and when I retire I’ll become her caddy on the ladies
Gulf International Bank) as a derivatives tour!” he jokes.
12 WINTER 2008/09
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