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Sailing off... into the sunrise
01 September 2007
Fred Francis is bowing out of RBC Dexia after 27 years with the company. In that time the fund services industry and the many sectors he has worked in have changed out of all recognition. He talks to Caroline Allen about his formative experiences, and the shape of things to come.
Francis has a wealth of wisdom to share from the past, but he is already bouncing with energy about the future. A dedicated sailor, he never quite leaves the helm and keeps his eyes on the horizon, whether on his Pegasus V on Lake Ontario, or with the businesses he has built up over half a lifetime.
He has little time for those who still see asset servicing as the below decks engine room of the investment business. The last decade, he remarks, has seen changes no-one predicted, and very few could have responded to in the effective way investment services providers have.
Not only have the principal players sector kept up with fast moving and complex changes in the servicing requirements of an increasingly diverse array of investors, but many have seized the initiative to move well beyond their traditional role of custody and control.
"Ten years ago custodians...
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