David Reid Scott

Although David Reid Scott has in his time worked for CSFB, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Grenfell and Donaldson Lufkin&Jenrette, he says he has always been happier in a smaller firm, "where I could have a very direct impact on the business".

In the 1970s, he was one of those advising the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency on the investment of its reserves. And in the 1980s he was a partner at Phoenix Securities, which virtually cornered the market in advising stockbroking firms wishing to be bought out during the London market's Big Bang. So when the forces of consolidation pitched him back into his old firm of CSFB, he needed little persuading to downsize again.

This time, he was lured away by Richard Briance, an old friend from Credit Suisse White Weld days, as chairman elect of Hawkpoint, an independent corporate finance firm.