| "Can't be true." This was the reaction to the news that Colin Hermon, the highly successful capital markets business originator for Jardine Fleming, had resigned from the bank. Hermon tendered his resignation on the afternoon of Friday July 12. It is a sad parting of the ways for both sides. Hermon openly admits that his nine years at the bank were extremely enjoyable. "Fleming is a very special institution which manages to be aggressive and successful but also highly civilized," he says. "Perhaps only Lazards has those same qualities." And Fleming will miss Hermon. In order to maintain its earnings momentum the group has come to rely upon a major profit contribution from Jardine Fleming, its money-spinning Far Eastern arm owned 50:50 with Jardine Matheson. JF's profits peaked in 1993 and UK-based Robert Fleming has been unable to take up the earnings slack. Fleming's "crown jewels" are its asset management business and Jardine Fleming. The money management business is rock-solid but unlikely to grow faster than the industry as a whole; Jardine Fleming is the in-house "shooting star", the most highly regarded and most profitable major investment bank in the Asian-Pacific region. |