Fireside Chat with Robert Pickering, former CEO of Cazenove

We are delighted to welcome Robert Pickering, former Chief Executive of Cazenove, and author of Blue Blood: Cazenove in the Age of Global Banking, for a fireside chat about his impressive career and what it takes to be successful in the intensely competitive world of investment banking.

Founded in 1823, Cazenove & Co. was the most prestigious stockbroking firm in the City of London, celebrated for its fabled placing power and its unrivalled network of client relationships. Fiercely independent, the firm had always maintained a low profile, shunning the press and refusing to disclose details of its own affairs or those of its clients.

When the Big Bang revolutionised the City in 1986, Cazenove was the only major stockbroking partnership to refrain from the merger frenzy which followed, rejecting the conventional wisdom of the day and resolutely following its own path. Hence, the City was stunned when, in November 2000, Cazenove announced that it would abandon its partnership structure, raise external capital, and list its shares on the London Stock Exchange.

Robert Pickering led the firm as Chief Executive throughout this period, seeking to define Cazenove’s future in an industry which was becoming increasingly dominated by huge international banks. This culminated in the creation of J.P.Morgan Cazenove, the highly successful joint venture with the hard-charging American giant, which grew to become the most successful investment bank in the UK.

Robert will talk about what it was like to manage the firm through a period of tumultuous change and what it takes to be successful in the intensely competitive world of investment banking.

Speaker: Robert Pickering 

Bio: Robert Pickering read law at Oxford University. After qualifying as a solicitor, he joined Cazenove in 1985 and served as its Chief Executive from 2001 until 2008, playing a key role in the firm’s development from a private stockbroking partnership into a leading investment bank and wealth manager.

Since leaving Cazenove, he has acted as a consultant and board member. He was recently been appointed as Chairman of Marex Group plc, a diversified global financial services platform serving clients in the energy, commodities and financial markets.

Chaired by Ciara Hurley, LSE. 

There will be a drinks reception after the event.