Laying the foundations
In this respect, the real foundations for Crux coming into being were laid when Pease negotiated a deal to stay at Henderson that would allow him to take the money with him if he did setup shop elsewhere.“I wanted to leave after the takeoverbut then an agreement with Henderson was reached, and that was why I decided to stay for as long as I did.”While the ‘dream team’ becoming available was the clincher for Pease in making the decision, there were aspects of his former working life at smaller firms that Pease missed.
“With operations like Jupiter and New Star, I like to think I’ve had a very good relationship with the head honcho, and that has meant I could quietly influence events over lunch or a drink,” he explains.“Whereas with bigger companies such as Henderson, although there are lots of nice people and good fund managers, I felt less involved.”Having made his big move, Pease expects to see out his career with Crux. He is not going to rest on his laurels, though, and hopes to see the firm’s offering broadened.“I am not someone who moves around much anyway, so I have no intention of doing anything other than working at Crux now, which I consider a great privilege. We want to take it step by step but we would certainly consider offering the funds around other parts of Europe.“We also have had the odd chatwith a few people who have some interest in joining us to add different expertise and allow us to launch further products. There is nothing in the pipeline yet but I believe we will add some very good people to the firm in the fullness of time.“I would always want to stay small and be good, though, rather than be big and not so good.”
