Jump to content

Jim Slater (accountant): Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m I removed BLP - the punk is now dead. Also Multiple issues as it's not all that multiple now. Ime sure additional citations would still be good.
GreenC bot (talk | contribs)
Bots
2,516,564 edits
Rescued 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#timesonline.co.uk
 
(44 intermediate revisions by 32 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Multiple issues|
{{more citations needed|date=May 2018}}
⚫
{{More footnotes needed|date=November 2015}}
}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}

⚫
{{More footnotes|date=November 2015}}}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Jim Slater
| name = Jim Slater
| image = <!-- filename only, i.e. without "File:" (or "Image:") prefix or enclosing [[brackets]] -->
| image = <!-- filename only, i.e. without "File:" (or "Image:") prefix or enclosing [[brackets]] -->
| image_size =
| alt =
| alt =
| caption =
| caption =
| birth_name = James Derrick Slater
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1929|03|13}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1929|03|13}}
| birth_place = [[Heswall]], Cheshire, England
| birth_place = [[Heswall]], Cheshire, England
Line 19: Line 22:
| burial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| burial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| monuments =
| monuments =
| residence = [[Cranleigh, Surrey]], England
| nationality = British
| nationality =
| other_names =
| other_names =
| ethnicity = <!-- Ethnicity should be supported with a citation from a reliable source -->
| citizenship =
| citizenship =
| education =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = [[Chartered accountant]]
| occupation = [[Chartered accountant]]<br>Businessman
| years_active =
| years_active =
| era =
| era =
Line 34: Line 35:
| notable_works = <!-- produces label "Notable work"; may be overridden by |credits=, which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |works=, which produces label "Works" -->
| notable_works = <!-- produces label "Notable work"; may be overridden by |credits=, which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |works=, which produces label "Works" -->
| style =
| style =
| home_town =
| salary =
| net_worth = <!-- Net worth should be supported with a citation from a reliable source -->
| television =
| television =
| title =
| title =
Line 43: Line 41:
| successor =
| successor =
| boards =
| boards =
⚫
| spouse = Helen <small>(1965–2015, his death)</small>
| religion = <!-- Religion should be supported with a citation from a reliable source -->
⚫
| spouse = Helen <small>(1965–2015, his death)
| partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) -->
| partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) -->
| children = 4
| children = 4, including [[Mark Slater (fund manager)|Mark]]
| parents =
| parents =
| relatives =
| relatives =
Line 53: Line 50:
}}
}}


'''James Derrick Slater''' (13 March 1929 – 18 November 2015), was a British accountant, investor and business writer.
'''James Derrick Slater''' (13 March 1929 – 18 November 2015) was a British accountant, investor and business writer. Slater rose to prominence in the 1970s as a businessman and financier, who was the founding Chairman of [[Slater Walker]], an investment bank and conglomerate which collapsed in the [[secondary banking crisis of 1973–75]].


==Career==
==Career==


===Early career===
===Early career===
Born in 1929 in [[Heswall]], then in [[Cheshire]], Slater qualified as a [[chartered accountant]] aged 24, and joined the Dohm Group. Quickly promoted, he became a general manager, reorganising all the company's small industrial holdings into one company within the group. After leaving Dohm, he was appointed secretary and chief accountant of [[Park Royal Vehicles]], a wholly owned subsidiary of [[Associated Commercial Vehicles|ACV Group]]. He was then made commercial director of its subsidiary [[Associated Equipment Company|AEC]]. After [[Leyland Motors]] took over ACV, after he had integrated the business, Slater was later promoted to deputy sales director under [[Donald Stokes]].
Born in 1929 in [[Heswall]] – at that time in [[Cheshire]] – Slater qualified as a [[chartered accountant]] aged 24, and joined the Dohm Group. Quickly promoted, he became a general manager, reorganising all the company's small industrial holdings into one company within the group. After leaving Dohm, he was appointed secretary and chief accountant of [[Park Royal Vehicles]], a wholly owned subsidiary of [[Associated Commercial Vehicles|ACV Group]]. He was then made commercial director of its subsidiary [[Associated Equipment Company|AEC]]. After [[Leyland Motors]] took over ACV, Slater was later promoted to deputy sales director under [[Donald Stokes, Baron Stokes|Donald Stokes]].


===Initial investments===
===Initial investments===
Whilst working for AEC as a director, whilst recovering from an illness Slater became interested in investing, and subsequently developed his stock market system. Slater approached his friend [[Nigel Lawson]], then the city editor of ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'', and agreed to write an investment column under the pseudonym ''Capitalist''. Over the following two years, Capitalist's ghost portfolio appreciated by 68.9%, against the London Stock Market's average of 3.6%.
Whilst working for AEC as a director, Slater fell ill and during his recovery became interested in investing, and developed a system for picking stocks which would much later form the basis of his book ''[[The Zulu Principle]]'' (1992). He then approached his friend [[Nigel Lawson]], at that time the City Editor of ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'', and was hired to write an investment column under the pseudonym 'Capitalist'. Over the following two years, Capitalist's ghost portfolio appreciated by 68.9%, against the London Stock Market's average of 3.6%.


===Slater Walker===
===Slater Walker===
{{main|Slater Walker}}
{{main|Slater Walker}}
In 1964, Slater acquired control of H Lotery & Co Ltd, a £1.5m public company, which with his business partner [[Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester|Peter Walker]] – later a Conservative MP – they renamed [[Slater Walker|Slater Walker Securities]]. The company performed what became known as [[corporate raid]]s on public mainly industrial companies, growing into a group capitalized at over £200&nbsp;million, through which Slater became a friend and business associate of [[James Goldsmith]]. Slater Walker then changed strategy, from a corporate-conglomerate into what eventually was recognised as an unauthorised and unlicensed international investment bank, through gradual disposal of its industrial interests.
In 1964, Slater acquired control of H Lotery & Co Ltd, a £1.5m public company; he and his business partner [[Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester|Peter Walker]] – a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP – renamed it [[Slater Walker|Slater Walker Securities]]. The company performed what became known as [[corporate raid]]s on public, mainly industrial, companies, in which Slater would sell off under-performing assets to improve efficiency. Slater commented, "we are money makers, not thing makers".


This saw the company growing into a group capitalized at over £200&nbsp;million, through which Slater became a friend and business associate of [[James Goldsmith]]. Slater Walker then changed strategy, from a corporate-conglomerate into what eventually was recognised as an unauthorised and unlicensed international investment bank, through gradual disposal of its industrial interests. This has led to Slater being revered in some circles as a "merger lord", but criticised in others as an "[[Asset stripping|asset stripper]]".<ref>Maume, Chris. (20 November 2015). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jim-slater-businessman-who-became-first-famous-then-infamous-for-the-assetstripping-firm-he-set-up-with-mp-peter-walker-a6742741.html ''Jim Slater: Businessman who became infamous for the asset-stripping firm he set up with MP Peter Walker'']. News, Obituaries: ''[[The Independent]].''</ref>
During the [[secondary banking crisis]] in 1975, Slater Walker received support from the [[Bank of England]]. Slater resigned as chairman in October 1975, because the Singapore Government began to try to extradite him from the UK for alleged offences by the company in Singapore. Following the takeover of the company by the Bank of England, 15&nbsp;charges were brought against Slater for offences against the [[Companies Act]] by the [[Department of Trade]], referring to the alleged misuse of more than £4&nbsp;million of company funds in share deals. The case brought by HM Treasury and the Singapore Government was thrown out in 1977.<ref>[http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk./about/information/foi_disclosures/2005/foi_slater_walker_2005.cfm] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005175235/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk./about/information/foi_disclosures/2005/foi_slater_walker_2005.cfm |date=5 October 2007 }}</ref>


During the [[secondary banking crisis]] in 1975, Slater Walker faced financial difficulties and received support from the [[Bank of England]]. Slater resigned as chairman in October 1975 due to extradition attempts from the government of Singapore for the alleged misuse of more than £4&nbsp;million of company funds in share deals. The Singapore government's attempt to extradite Slater (in which it was represented by Derry Irvine, assisted by Tony Blair and Cherie Booth<ref>{{cite book |title=Speaking for Myself: Life from Liverpool to Downing Street |url=https://archive.org/details/speakingformysel0000blai |url-access=registration |last=Blair |first=Cherie |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-316-04375-5|location=New York |pages=Chapter 7}}</ref>) was dismissed by the [[Chief Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate|Chief Metropolitan Magistrate]] at Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court in 1977.<ref name="Jim Slater, financier - obituary">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/12006338/Jim-Slater-financier-obituary.html |title=Jim Slater, financier - obituary |work=Telegraph.co.uk |access-date=2017-04-26 |language=en}}</ref><ref>[http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk./about/information/foi_disclosures/2005/foi_slater_walker_2005.cfm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005175235/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk./about/information/foi_disclosures/2005/foi_slater_walker_2005.cfm|date=5 October 2007}}</ref> In separate proceedings, following the takeover of the company by the Bank of England, a prosecution was brought against Slater by the [[Department of Trade]] alleging 15 counts of offences under the [[Companies Act]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=Money Makers: The Stock Market Secrets of Britain's Top Professional Investment Managers |last=Davis |first=Jonathan |publisher=Harriman House Limited |year=2013 |isbn=9780857193124 |location=UK }}</ref> Slater was found guilty of the Companies Act offences and fined £15 per count.<ref name="Jim Slater, financier - obituary"/> However, the court accepted that the offences were purely technical, that Slater had not acted dishonestly and that there was no question of him having made any personal gain through committing them.<ref name=":0" />
===Post-Slater Walker===
⚫
Finding himself technically but not legally bankrupt post the collapse of Slater Walker, Jim Slater invested his residual funds and repaid all of his personal creditors within a few years, with interest.


⚫
After the collapse of Slater Walker, and while being technically but not legally bankrupt, Slater invested his residual funds and repaid his personal creditors within a few years, with interest.
⚫
In 1976, Slater had formed a 50:50 venture with [[Tiny Rowland]]'s [[Lonmin|Lonrho Group]], to buy-up undervalued blocks of [[Apartment|flats]] in London. At its peak, the company owned and managed over 1,500 flats. This business model led Slater to form Salar Properties, which through [[time share]] leasing of [[salmon fishing]] rights on seven of Scotland's rivers, including the Lower Redgorton beat on the [[River Tay]], by the 1980s had become the largest Scottish fishing venture.


⚫
In 1976, Slater had formed a 50:50 venture with [[Tiny Rowland]]'s [[Lonmin|Lonrho Group]], to buy-up undervalued blocks of [[Apartment|flats]] in London. At its peak, the company owned and managed over 1,500 flats. This business model led Slater to form Salar Properties, which through [[time share]] leasing of [[Salmon-fishing|salmon fishing]] rights on seven of Scotland's rivers, including the Lower Redgorton beat on the [[River Tay]], by the 1980s had become the largest Scottish fishing venture.
⚫
Slater then acted as mentor to business partner Ian Watson, through which Watson founded Centennial Minerals in 1982. It owned a major share in the Montana Tunnels gold mine, and was sold to Pegasus Gold at a substantial profit three years later. The pair formed Galahad Gold in 2002, successfully timing the commodities boom to make annualised 66% profits from gold exploration before winding the company down in 2007 and starting a new joint-venture, Agrifirma, this time investing in Brazilian agricultural farmland.<ref name=FT090309>[[The Financial Times]] – [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8708d4a4-0cd8-11de-a555-0000779fd2ac.html Agrifirma scraps hedge fund-style fees], 9 March 2009

</ref>
⚫
Slater then acted as mentor to business partner Ian Watson, through which Watson founded Centennial Minerals in 1982. It owned a major share in the Montana Tunnels gold mine, and was sold to Pegasus Gold at a substantial profit three years later. The pair formed Galahad Gold in 2002, successfully timing the commodities boom to make annualised 66% profits from gold exploration before winding the company down in 2007 and starting a new joint-venture, Agrifirma, this time investing in Brazilian agricultural farmland.<ref name=FT090309>[[Financial Times]] – [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8708d4a4-0cd8-11de-a555-0000779fd2ac.html Agrifirma scraps hedge fund-style fees], 9 March 2009</ref>


By 2009, Slater was chairman of BioProjects International PLC, deputy chairman and finance director of Galahad Gold, and investment director of Agrifirma.
By 2009, Slater was chairman of BioProjects International PLC, deputy chairman and finance director of Galahad Gold, and investment director of Agrifirma.
Line 82: Line 79:
Slater's autobiography sets out his early plans and visions regarding company acquisitions, and describes the processes he employed to bring them about. Once companies came under his control his strategy was to maximise the return on those of their assets that he judged disposable—be they property, plant or workforce. These tactics proved to be highly successful and profitable in the short-term, such that "Slater Walker" became a byword for a particularly forceful and financially rewarding form of capitalism.
Slater's autobiography sets out his early plans and visions regarding company acquisitions, and describes the processes he employed to bring them about. Once companies came under his control his strategy was to maximise the return on those of their assets that he judged disposable—be they property, plant or workforce. These tactics proved to be highly successful and profitable in the short-term, such that "Slater Walker" became a byword for a particularly forceful and financially rewarding form of capitalism.


The acquisition and disposal of company assets in this manner became known as "[[asset stripping]]", a phrase term that carries with it connotations of hardship and distress associated with the human costs of unemployment. Some years later, Slater acknowledged the drawbacks that were inherent in the practices he adopted, towards the end of an interview with [[Hunter Davies]] in ''[[The Independent]]'' published on 15 December 1992.<ref>{{cite web|author=Hunter Davies |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/interview-millions-of-shares-but-not-many-laughs-jim-slater-is-proud-of-six-things-that-might-get-him-into-heaven-being-chairman-of-slater-walker-is-not-among-them-1563671.html |title=Interview: Millions of shares, but not many laughs: Jim Slater is proud of six things that might get him into heaven. Being chairman of Slater Walker is not among them &#124; Lifestyle |publisher=The Independent |date= |accessdate=2015-11-23}}</ref>
The acquisition and disposal of company assets in this manner became known as "[[asset stripping]]", a phrase term that carries with it connotations of hardship and distress associated with the human costs of unemployment. Some years later, Slater acknowledged the drawbacks that were inherent in the practices he adopted, towards the end of an interview with [[Hunter Davies]] in ''[[The Independent]]'' published on 15 December 1992.<ref>{{cite web |author=Hunter Davies |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/interview-millions-of-shares-but-not-many-laughs-jim-slater-is-proud-of-six-things-that-might-get-him-into-heaven-being-chairman-of-slater-walker-is-not-among-them-1563671.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220608/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/interview-millions-of-shares-but-not-many-laughs-jim-slater-is-proud-of-six-things-that-might-get-him-into-heaven-being-chairman-of-slater-walker-is-not-among-them-1563671.html |archive-date=8 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Interview: Millions of shares, but not many laughs: Jim Slater is proud of six things that might get him into heaven. Being chairman of Slater Walker is not among them &#124; Lifestyle |work=The Independent |date=15 December 1992 |access-date=2015-11-23}}</ref>


Slater was the author of the book on investment, ''[[The Zulu Principle]]'', which focuses on simple techniques for identifying small dynamic growth companies whose shares are at a low price compared to their future prospects. With Hemmington Scott, he devised a monthly company statistical guide, Company REFS,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.companyrefs.co |title=Company REFS &#124; Equity investment tool for private and professional investors |publisher=Companyrefs.co |date= |accessdate=2015-11-23}}</ref> also available as a daily online service, to make the identification of such shares easier for the private investor. Slater has authored several other investment books, and children's stories such as ''[[A. Mazing Monsters]]''.
Slater was also the author of a book on investment, ''The Zulu Principle'', which focuses on simple techniques for identifying small dynamic growth companies whose shares are at a low price compared to their future prospects. With Hemmington Scott, he devised a monthly company statistical guide, Company REFS,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.companyrefs.co |title=Company REFS &#124; Equity investment tool for private and professional investors |publisher=Companyrefs.co |access-date=2015-11-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122113228/http://www.companyrefs.co/ |archive-date=22 November 2015}}</ref> also available as a daily online service, to make the identification of such shares easier for the private investor. Slater authored several other investment books, and had a side career as a children's author, writing the ''[[A. Mazing Monsters]]'' series.


==Media ==
==Media ==
Slater was featured in the second episode of ''[[The Mayfair Set]]'' documentaries by [[Adam Curtis]].
He was featured in the second episode of ''[[The Mayfair Set]]'', a series of documentaries by [[Adam Curtis]].


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Slater married his wife Helen in 1965. They lived in [[Surrey]], had four children and ten grandchildren.
Slater married his wife Helen in 1965. They lived in [[Surrey]] and had four children and ten grandchildren.


Slater's hobby was chess. Amongst other sponsorships he donated $125,000 to make possible the [[World Chess Championship 1972|1972 World Chess Championship]] between [[Bobby Fischer]] and [[Boris Spassky]] in [[Reykjavík]], Iceland.
Slater's hobby was [[chess]]. Amongst other sponsorships, he donated $125,000 to help fund the [[1972 World Chess Championship]] between [[Bobby Fischer]] and [[Boris Spassky]] in [[Reykjavík]], Iceland, doubling the total prize fund.


Slater died on 18 November 2015 at the age of 86.<ref name=TelgObit>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/12006338/Jim-Slater-financier-obituary.html|title=Jim Slater financier – obituary|work=[[Daily Telegraph]]|date=19 November 2015|accessdate=20 November 2015}}</ref>
Slater died on 18 November 2015 at the age of 86.<ref name="TelgObit">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/12006338/Jim-Slater-financier-obituary.html |title=Jim Slater financier – obituary |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=19 November 2015 |access-date=20 November 2015}}</ref>


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==

*''[[A. Mazing Monsters]]''
=== ''A. Mazing Monsters'' series ===
⚫
*''How to Become a Millionaire: Make Money While You Sleep'' ISBN 978-1-58799-152-3

⚫
*''Beyond the Zulu Principle: Extraordinary Profits from Growth Shares'' ISBN 978-1-58799-094-6
* ''The Tricky Troggle''
⚫
*''The Zulu Principle: Making Extraordinary Profits from Ordinary Shares'' ISBN 978-1-58799-095-3
* ''Wormball''
⚫
*''The Armchair Investor: A Do-it-yourself Guide for Amateur Investors'' ISBN 978-0-7528-0775-1
* ''Webfoot''
* ''The Great Gulper''
* ''Greeneye''
* ''The Winkybird''
* ''Dimmo''
* ''Bignose''
* ''Swiggo''
* ''Snuggly''
* ''Big Snowy''
* ''Kleenum''
* ''Grinno''
* ''Rainbow''
* ''Crammus''
* ''Send For The Gulper''

=== Standalone books ===

⚫
*''How to Become a Millionaire: Make Money While You Sleep'' {{ISBN|978-1-58799-152-3}}
⚫
*''Beyond the Zulu Principle: Extraordinary Profits from Growth Shares'' {{ISBN|978-1-58799-094-6}}
⚫
*''The Zulu Principle: Making Extraordinary Profits from Ordinary Shares'' {{ISBN|978-1-58799-095-3}}
⚫
*''The Armchair Investor: A Do-it-yourself Guide for Amateur Investors'' {{ISBN|978-0-7528-0775-1}}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/search/article/410502/uk-fast-buck-fraternity/ UK Fast Buck Fraternity: article from 1996 edition of Management Today]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090814230947/http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/search/article/410502/uk-fast-buck-fraternity/ UK Fast Buck Fraternity: article from 1996 edition of Management Today]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913704-2,00.html End game for Slater? Time Magazine article from 1975 following his resignation from Slater Walker]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080814202242/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913704-2,00.html End game for Slater? Time Magazine article from 1975 following his resignation from Slater Walker]
* [http://www.bioprojects.com/comP_Info/directors/james.html Biography] from Bioprojects International plc, of which he is Executive chairman
* [http://www.bioprojects.com/comP_Info/directors/james.html Biography] from Bioprojects International plc, of which he is Executive chairman
* [http://www.global-investor.com/slater/ Global Investor] investment advice site
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060110215359/http://www.global-investor.com/slater/ Global Investor] investment advice site
* [http://www.amazingmonsters.com/ A.mazing Monsters] children's books written by Slater
* [http://www.amazingmonsters.com/ A.mazing Monsters] children's books written by Slater
* [http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article573604.ece Times article on Slater Walker]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070310170902/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article573604.ece Times article on Slater Walker]
* [http://hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/information/foi_disclosures/foi_slater_walker.cfm Documents relating to HM Treasury's intervention in Slater Walker]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060214042441/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/information/foi_disclosures/foi_slater_walker.cfm Documents relating to HM Treasury's intervention in Slater Walker]
* [http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/InvestmentGuides/Shares/article/20090312/8e3ba540-0efd-11de-8454-00144f2af8e8/Jim-Slater-what-I-would-buy-now.jsp Jim Slater: what I would buy now] from Investors Chronicle, March 2009
* [http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/InvestmentGuides/Shares/article/20090312/8e3ba540-0efd-11de-8454-00144f2af8e8/Jim-Slater-what-I-would-buy-now.jsp Jim Slater: what I would buy now] from Investors Chronicle, March 2009

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Jim}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Jim}}
Line 122: Line 142:
[[Category:English accountants]]
[[Category:English accountants]]
[[Category:English investors]]
[[Category:English investors]]
⚫
[[Category:English businesspeople]]
[[Category:English columnists]]
[[Category:English columnists]]
[[Category:Chess patrons]]
[[Category:Chess patrons]]
[[Category:20th-century philanthropists]]
⚫
[[Category:20th-century English businesspeople]]

Latest revision as of 23:54, 26 September 2024

Jim Slater
Born(1929-03-13)13 March 1929
Heswall, Cheshire, England
Died18 November 2015(2015-11-18) (aged 86)[1]
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Chartered accountant
Businessman
Employer(s)Park Royal Vehicles
ACV Group
AEC
Leyland Motors
Known forSlater Walker
Capitalist column in The Sunday Telegraph
author, The Zulu Principle
SpouseHelen (1965–2015, his death)
Children4, including Mark

James Derrick Slater (13 March 1929 – 18 November 2015) was a British accountant, investor and business writer. Slater rose to prominence in the 1970s as a businessman and financier, who was the founding Chairman of Slater Walker, an investment bank and conglomerate which collapsed in the secondary banking crisis of 1973–75.

Career

[edit]

Early career

[edit]

Born in 1929 in Heswall – at that time in Cheshire – Slater qualified as a chartered accountant aged 24, and joined the Dohm Group. Quickly promoted, he became a general manager, reorganising all the company's small industrial holdings into one company within the group. After leaving Dohm, he was appointed secretary and chief accountant of Park Royal Vehicles, a wholly owned subsidiary of ACV Group. He was then made commercial director of its subsidiary AEC. After Leyland Motors took over ACV, Slater was later promoted to deputy sales director under Donald Stokes.

Initial investments

[edit]

Whilst working for AEC as a director, Slater fell ill and during his recovery became interested in investing, and developed a system for picking stocks which would much later form the basis of his book The Zulu Principle (1992). He then approached his friend Nigel Lawson, at that time the City Editor of The Sunday Telegraph, and was hired to write an investment column under the pseudonym 'Capitalist'. Over the following two years, Capitalist's ghost portfolio appreciated by 68.9%, against the London Stock Market's average of 3.6%.

Slater Walker

[edit]
Main article: Slater Walker

In 1964, Slater acquired control of H Lotery & Co Ltd, a £1.5m public company; he and his business partner Peter Walker – a Conservative MP – renamed it Slater Walker Securities. The company performed what became known as corporate raids on public, mainly industrial, companies, in which Slater would sell off under-performing assets to improve efficiency. Slater commented, "we are money makers, not thing makers".

This saw the company growing into a group capitalized at over £200 million, through which Slater became a friend and business associate of James Goldsmith. Slater Walker then changed strategy, from a corporate-conglomerate into what eventually was recognised as an unauthorised and unlicensed international investment bank, through gradual disposal of its industrial interests. This has led to Slater being revered in some circles as a "merger lord", but criticised in others as an "asset stripper".[2]

During the secondary banking crisis in 1975, Slater Walker faced financial difficulties and received support from the Bank of England. Slater resigned as chairman in October 1975 due to extradition attempts from the government of Singapore for the alleged misuse of more than £4 million of company funds in share deals. The Singapore government's attempt to extradite Slater (in which it was represented by Derry Irvine, assisted by Tony Blair and Cherie Booth[3]) was dismissed by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court in 1977.[4][5] In separate proceedings, following the takeover of the company by the Bank of England, a prosecution was brought against Slater by the Department of Trade alleging 15 counts of offences under the Companies Act.[6] Slater was found guilty of the Companies Act offences and fined £15 per count.[4] However, the court accepted that the offences were purely technical, that Slater had not acted dishonestly and that there was no question of him having made any personal gain through committing them.[6]

After the collapse of Slater Walker, and while being technically but not legally bankrupt, Slater invested his residual funds and repaid his personal creditors within a few years, with interest.

In 1976, Slater had formed a 50:50 venture with Tiny Rowland's Lonrho Group, to buy-up undervalued blocks of flats in London. At its peak, the company owned and managed over 1,500 flats. This business model led Slater to form Salar Properties, which through time share leasing of salmon fishing rights on seven of Scotland's rivers, including the Lower Redgorton beat on the River Tay, by the 1980s had become the largest Scottish fishing venture.

Slater then acted as mentor to business partner Ian Watson, through which Watson founded Centennial Minerals in 1982. It owned a major share in the Montana Tunnels gold mine, and was sold to Pegasus Gold at a substantial profit three years later. The pair formed Galahad Gold in 2002, successfully timing the commodities boom to make annualised 66% profits from gold exploration before winding the company down in 2007 and starting a new joint-venture, Agrifirma, this time investing in Brazilian agricultural farmland.[7]

By 2009, Slater was chairman of BioProjects International PLC, deputy chairman and finance director of Galahad Gold, and investment director of Agrifirma.

Author

[edit]

Slater's autobiography sets out his early plans and visions regarding company acquisitions, and describes the processes he employed to bring them about. Once companies came under his control his strategy was to maximise the return on those of their assets that he judged disposable—be they property, plant or workforce. These tactics proved to be highly successful and profitable in the short-term, such that "Slater Walker" became a byword for a particularly forceful and financially rewarding form of capitalism.

The acquisition and disposal of company assets in this manner became known as "asset stripping", a phrase term that carries with it connotations of hardship and distress associated with the human costs of unemployment. Some years later, Slater acknowledged the drawbacks that were inherent in the practices he adopted, towards the end of an interview with Hunter Davies in The Independent published on 15 December 1992.[8]

Slater was also the author of a book on investment, The Zulu Principle, which focuses on simple techniques for identifying small dynamic growth companies whose shares are at a low price compared to their future prospects. With Hemmington Scott, he devised a monthly company statistical guide, Company REFS,[9] also available as a daily online service, to make the identification of such shares easier for the private investor. Slater authored several other investment books, and had a side career as a children's author, writing the A. Mazing Monsters series.

Media

[edit]

He was featured in the second episode of The Mayfair Set, a series of documentaries by Adam Curtis.

Personal life

[edit]

Slater married his wife Helen in 1965. They lived in Surrey and had four children and ten grandchildren.

Slater's hobby was chess. Amongst other sponsorships, he donated $125,000 to help fund the 1972 World Chess Championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in Reykjavík, Iceland, doubling the total prize fund.

Slater died on 18 November 2015 at the age of 86.[1]

Bibliography

[edit]

A. Mazing Monsters series

[edit]
  • The Tricky Troggle
  • Wormball
  • Webfoot
  • The Great Gulper
  • Greeneye
  • The Winkybird
  • Dimmo
  • Bignose
  • Swiggo
  • Snuggly
  • Big Snowy
  • Kleenum
  • Grinno
  • Rainbow
  • Crammus
  • Send For The Gulper

Standalone books

[edit]
  • How to Become a Millionaire: Make Money While You Sleep ISBN 978-1-58799-152-3
  • Beyond the Zulu Principle: Extraordinary Profits from Growth Shares ISBN 978-1-58799-094-6
  • The Zulu Principle: Making Extraordinary Profits from Ordinary Shares ISBN 978-1-58799-095-3
  • The Armchair Investor: A Do-it-yourself Guide for Amateur Investors ISBN 978-0-7528-0775-1

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Jim Slater financier – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  2. ^ Maume, Chris. (20 November 2015). Jim Slater: Businessman who became infamous for the asset-stripping firm he set up with MP Peter Walker. News, Obituaries: The Independent.
  3. ^ Blair, Cherie (2008). Speaking for Myself: Life from Liverpool to Downing Street. New York: Little, Brown and Company. pp. Chapter 7. ISBN 978-0-316-04375-5.
  4. ^ a b "Jim Slater, financier - obituary". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  5. ^ [1] Archived 5 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ a b Davis, Jonathan (2013). Money Makers: The Stock Market Secrets of Britain's Top Professional Investment Managers. UK: Harriman House Limited. ISBN 9780857193124.
  7. ^ Financial Times – Agrifirma scraps hedge fund-style fees, 9 March 2009
  8. ^ Hunter Davies (15 December 1992). "Interview: Millions of shares, but not many laughs: Jim Slater is proud of six things that might get him into heaven. Being chairman of Slater Walker is not among them | Lifestyle". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  9. ^ "Company REFS | Equity investment tool for private and professional investors". Companyrefs.co. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Jim_Slater_(accountant)&oldid=1247969663"