Kleinwort Benson bought Grieveson Grant, and NM Rothschild devoured Smith Brothers. And what of the "Gentlemen and Players"?
Well they all retired to their stockbroker belt houses and country estates, swapping pin stripe for tweeds, having trousered some very serious money.
With this sea change we saw the disappearance of those traditional and cautious values. My word is my bond, trust, nods, winks and tips were all to be replaced by what is now seen in many quarters as a strange mix of treating customers fairly, compliance, compensation, redress, learnings, reckless abandon, using somebody else's money to trade on your own account - for the benefit of the banks who employed you and, more importantly, for yourself.
So, the big life offices have gone the way of all flesh, seemingly where they could not adapt to change.
Is it a change for the better? Well I am not so sure.
Derek Bradley is founder of PanaceaAdviser
