Panmure poaches Seymour Pierce’s Wale as new chief
Panmure Gordon, one of several niche investment banks operating in the City of London finance district, has poached Phillip Wale from rival Seymour Pierce to be its new chief executive.
Panmure said on Wednesday Wale would take up his new role this summer, with current CEO Tim Linacre becoming chairman of its investment banking arm.
Wale, 48, has 31 years experience in the industry, having worked at the likes of Goldman Sachs and Commerzbank. He joined Seymour Pierce in 2010 and become its chief executive in 2011.
Wale said he would look to “invigorate our client service, grow our roster of clients and drive the firm’s profitability”.
Panmure, founded in 1876, has managed to remain independent while others have been swallowed up by bigger investment banking rivals during several phases of consolidation within Britain’s stockbroking community.
The sector has recently undergone a renewed wave of mergers and acquisitions, with American investment bank Jefferies buying British broker Hoare Govett from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) earlier this year, as the tough economic climate has hurt many of the sector’s smaller players.
Panmure managed to see off a takeover threat from rival Evolution Securities in 2010 after Evolution’s bid failed to get the backing of Panmure’s board and Qatar’s QInvest, which has a stake of around 40 percent in Panmure.
Evolution itself ended up being taken over by South African financial services group Investec (INLJ.J) (INVP.L), while Seymour Pierce has also been the subject of bid speculation.