![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: Business | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
|
![]() |
Thursday, 19 December, 2002, 09:09 GMT
The human face of Nicola Horlick
![]() Superwoman or mere mortal?
![]() "It's ridiculous that I am known as 'superwoman'," she says. "Look at someone who has no help at home and holds down a job. Or look at me with my nanny and my secretary. Who would you call 'superwoman'?"
Superhero comparisons aside, she still has a remarkable ability to reinvent herself and capture the imagination of the British press. Her sex, her flock of children and a high-profile spat with a previous employer have earned her a place in the financial hall of fame. Career setback Horlick first made a name for herself in the early 1990s by turning around Morgan Grenfell Investment Management, a blue-blooded institution that had fallen on hard times. But it wasn't until 1997 that she hit the headlines after an irrevocable falling-out with Morgan Grenfell's senior management.
As Ms Horlick saw it, "a person who didn't like me" informed Morgan Grenfell that she planned to defect with a team of fund managers. She denied the report but ended up with the press camped out on her doorstep for five days. On impulse, she later flew to Frankfurt - trailing 40 journalists in her wake - to persuade Morgan Grenfell's German paymasters at Deutsche Bank to back her case. In retrospect, the trip seemed more of a theatrical stunt (Ms Horlick auditioned for Rada as a teenager) than a genuine mission to get her job back. Can you have it all? A year after the Morgan Grenfell debacle, Ms Horlick's daughter, Georgie, lost her battle against leukaemia.
If nothing else, the experience sharpened her perspective. "I have always been laid back, but I think I'm more so now. The little things don't seem so important any more." After leaving Morgan Grenfell, Ms Horlick took six weeks out to write a book, Can You Have It All? "It was quite therapeutic and became a useful record," Ms Horlick says, hinting both at Georgie's struggle for survival and the Morgan Grenfell row. 'Wrong-footed' The book, however, does not cover her latest incarnation as chief executive of SG Asset Management (SGAM). In 1997 Ms Horlick and the man who had lured her to Morgan Grenfell in the early 1990s, Keith Percy, joined forces. The promise of an equity stake and a clean slate attracted them to SGAM, but a bear market has since tested their mettle.
Ms Horlick recognises she was "wrong-footed" by the stock markets last year. "We were too optimistic too early." Industry insiders observe that SGAM is experiencing growing pains as it breaks in its new management team. "It will require all the experience of Nicola and Keith to keep the young team delivering in the long term," says one expert. Not a level playing field Although Ms Horlick belittles the media's fixation with successful women in the City, she admits the attention "hasn't been unhelpful from a business point of view". This implacable pragmatism seems to be a powerful force in her personality.
"I can be ruthless for the good of the overall organisation," she says. Her responsibilities as a parent and a professional are weighed up with similar perspicacity. "You have to be honest with your employer and you have to tell them your priorities. People at work have to understand that you might need to go see your children in a carol concert." But as to whether you can have it all - the answer is "no". She also says that women with children are no longer on level playing field. No doubt her judgement has been marred by the loss of Georgie. Nevertheless, she thrives on living her life to the extreme. She may not be superwoman, but there are not many of us who could fit in six children, a start-up and a 20-year career in the City. |
![]() |
See also:
![]()
12 Dec 02 | UK
20 Mar 01 | Business
02 May 00 | UK
26 Jul 99 | Business
28 Nov 98 | UK
Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Business stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Business stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Business stories |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> | To BBC World Service>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |