Tony speaking at the launch of the CISI's Integrity at Work in Financial Services book in 2009
Tony Watson was a proud Ulsterman who came to work in the City of London in the late 1960s, initially as an economist. Over the next thirty years he was appointed to increasingly senior posts in the fund management industry, retiring in 2006 as chief investment officer of Hermes Pensions management.
Tony had a lively enquiring mind and a great ability to identify and find practical solutions to business problems. His personality was such that this was done without flamboyance, and he had particular skill in having potentially unacceptable solutions accepted without rancour. These characteristics, coupled with his wide experience, subsequently made him a sought-after and highly successful non-executive director. He served with distinction on the Boards of several major UK companies and industry bodies, notably as chair of Hermes subsidiary MEPC, and senior investment director of Lloyds Bank Group, Hammerson Group, and Witan Investment Trust. He was also chair of the Northern Irish Strategic Investment Board, and a member of the Advisory Board of Norges Bank Investment Management, which invests the Norwegian State oil revenue.
Tony was not someone who let success go to his head or seek the trappings of success. He was a very good friend of this Institute and served as a Board member from 2000–2006 when he played a major role in the implementation of management change. We all send our sympathy to his wife, Janie, and their family.
Scott Dobbie CBE FCSI(Hon)
Chair, CISI, 2000–2009