Blue Blood

Blue Blood is a first-hand account by former Chief Executive Robert Pickering of how Cazenove & Co., the most prestigious stockbroking firm in the City of London, evolved from a private partnership into a modern investment bank. Pickering describes how it felt to manage an investment bank through a period of tumultuous change as he sought to define the firm's future in an industry which was becoming increasingly dominated by huge international banks. The most prestigious stockbroking firm in the City of London since its founding in 1823, Cazenove & Co. was celebrated for its fabled placing power, its unrivalled network of client relationships and its blue-blooded, upper-crust image. Fiercely independent, Cazenove was the only one of the major stockbroking partnerships not to sell itself to a UK or international bank when Big Bang revolutionised the City in 1986. So Cazenove stunned the City when it announced, in 2000, that it would abandon its cherished partnership structure and list its shares on the London Stock Exchange. Blue Blood is a first-hand account by former Chief Executive Robert Pickering of how Cazenove evolved from a private partnership into a modern investment bank. Working closely with Chairman and City legend David Mayhew, Pickering describes how it felt to manage an investment bank through a period of tumultuous change as the pair sought to define the firmâEUR(TM)s future in an industry which was becoming increasingly dominated by huge international banks.