Nairn goes home again

Scottish Widows has found a mate.

Scottish Widows has found a mate.

By David Schutt
December 2000
Institutional Investor Magazine

Sandy Nairn, an inveterate value investor who spent the past ten years as global head of research at Franklin Templeton, has signed on as chief investment officer of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership. His mission: to rebuild the $135 billion firm, which has lost a rash of senior executives and investment mandates since it was acquired by Lloyds TSB a year ago. The most damaging departure came in August, when chief executive Orie Dudley left after questioning the group’s commitment to asset management. Dudley has since been appointed CIO of Northern Trust Global Investments in Chicago.
The Scottish-born Nairn, 39, who worked both in Florida and Edinburgh in his previous job, welcomes a new Scottish Widows partnership structure designed to reward success. “The key now is developing an investment culture that generates good performance. My job is to put those structures in place.” Nairn says he did not hesitate to take the job. “I was faced with the opportunity of creating in my own backyard an organization of global stature to be proud of. That is an offer that only comes along once in a lifetime.”

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