Career Path: Hector Sants, FSA regulator
Hector Sants joined the Financial Services Authority in May 2004 as the managing director responsible for the regulation of wholesale and institutional markets, a new division created as part of a reorganisation and expansion of the UK regulator. He was previously chief executive of Credit Suisse First Boston in Europe.
I was born into a family of practising educational psychologists and I always believed growing up that I would do the same. I enjoyed working with people and wanted to follow my parents in a career built on academic study and involvement with people. Accordingly I studied psychology, philosophy and physiology (PPP) at Oxford, graduating in 1977.
In my last term, however, I realised I was more interested in commercial matters. I wanted to work in a context which allowed me to interact with the 'real world' as well as people.
My introduction to financial services was an accident. I met a senior fund manager over the fence in my small home village in Sussex, south of London. He suggested that investment analysis might combine my interests: work in the real world and the intellectual discipline of academe.
I joined the fund manager Phillips & Drew, then the leading City of London research firm, in 1977 and worked as an analyst until 1984, focusing on the food processing industry. I thoroughly enjoyed the job but found after seven years that I was in danger of becoming bored, and I was realising how important it was to me to be intellectually challenged in my career.
I was offered the chance to go to New York and start up a business selling equities to US fund managers. It was a period of huge growth and excitement in the equities business. I was charged with building an office up from scratch to a total of 30 people. It was a tremendous intellectual challenge and a great opportunity to begin to reposition myself into general management and away from being a 'product specialist'.
In 1988 Phillips & Drew was taken over by UBS and I became the head of international securities for New York. In 1989 I returned to London to take up a new position as the global research coordinator for the bank.
In 1990 my life would change again due to lucky coincidence. My boss had to retire due to ill health and I was chosen to move into his position. For the first time I gained general management responsibilities, heading up equities in Europe. I was also named a vice chairman of the investment bank as a whole, joining the overall executive committee for Europe.
In 1997 UBS merged with Swiss Bank Corporation. The 'new' bank offered to retain me as co-head of European equities. However, around this time I was approached by Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, the US securities firm, to build a new international (non-US) bulge bracket equities business. This was an appealing challenge, giving me the opportunity to build on my experiences to date. The challenge was to start a Europe bulge bracket business from scratch, a goal no one else had achieved. Furthermore it enabled me to invite many of my former colleagues from UBS to join me.
After two years I felt it was clear we would achieve our goal, but unfortunately the enterprise was curtailed by the acquisition of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette by CSFB in 2000. After a year John Mack gave me the regional CEO role, with responsibility for 9,000 people. It was the natural culmination of my previous experience and for three years I found the role fascinating as a new structure and culture were put into place at the 'new' CSFB. However the role was essentially internal and technical, and clearly in a stable environment could become repetitious. Still under 50, I wanted a position that would continue to challenge me.
When I was approached to take the position at the FSA, I saw a great opportunity.
The FSA is in a period of unprecedented expansion and challenge as the importance of regulation has risen in the past few years. In my new role I am creating a new division from scratch, specifically addressing the needs of the wholesale arena. This involves an intellectual and a management challenge and also allows me to give back to the community.
As a Christian I feel strongly that in the latter part of one's career, it is important to give back to the community. Previously I have been on the London Stock Exchange board and the FSA practitioner panel, as well as the board of the former Securities and Futures Authority. I have also sought to maintain a work-life balance which, as well as family, includes other activities - currently I am a non-executive director of an NHS Trust.
As I look back on my career, I see the themes of luck, intellectual challenge and community service as dominant. I enjoy helping people solve their problems and develop themselves. I look forward to continuing satisfaction in my new position and have not yet been disappointed.
