Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

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John Upham
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Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by John Upham » Fri Nov 19, 2021 9:31 am

Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)


https://britishchessnews.com/2020/11/18 ... 8-xi-2015/



gettyimages-1172735889-2048x2048.jpg
British accountant, investor and business writer Jim Slater (1929 - 2015) signing documents at a desk, UK, 11th May 1965. (Photo by Reg Burkett/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Roger Lancaster
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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by Roger Lancaster » Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:12 pm

A controversial figure in some respects, particularly to those who considered him a financial asset-stripper, but UK chess owes him a big debt.

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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:01 pm

"A controversial figure in some respects, particularly to those who considered him a financial asset-stripper, but UK chess owes him a big debt."

Yes, but in sport you get your money where you can - cricket got it from Allen Stanford, football has the world cup in various dubious places, partly as delegates take bribes before voting, etc.

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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by Roger Lancaster » Fri Nov 19, 2021 3:34 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:01 pm
"A controversial figure in some respects, particularly to those who considered him a financial asset-stripper, but UK chess owes him a big debt."

Yes, but in sport you get your money where you can - cricket got it from Allen Stanford, football has the world cup in various dubious places, partly as delegates take bribes before voting, etc.
Although I've acknowledged that Jim Slater was controversial, no-one (as far as I know) has questioned his integrity and many including myself would argue that he was a positive influence on the UK business scene in encouraging many significant companies to become more efficient.

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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by John Townsend » Fri Nov 19, 2021 3:58 pm

Asset stripping has been mentioned, but the methods of share selection which he advocated by the time he wrote The Zulu Principle had little to do with asset values. He was concerned largely with price/earnings ratios, that is, finding shares at prices which were low in relation to their earnings. There was a strong focus on smaller companies, "elephants don't gallop" being one of his sayings.

In his last years, he wrote a column in the Daily Telegraph on Saturdays, which included a few share tips.

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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by Gerard Killoran » Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:00 pm

Roger Lancaster wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 3:34 pm
Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:01 pm
"A controversial figure in some respects, particularly to those who considered him a financial asset-stripper, but UK chess owes him a big debt."

Yes, but in sport you get your money where you can - cricket got it from Allen Stanford, football has the world cup in various dubious places, partly as delegates take bribes before voting, etc.
Although I've acknowledged that Jim Slater was controversial, no-one (as far as I know) has questioned his integrity and many including myself would argue that he was a positive influence on the UK business scene in encouraging many significant companies to become more efficient.
Plenty of people questioned his integrity, including the Singapore Government who wanted him extradited for fraud. His dodgy delaings are mentioned here. https://www.ft.com/content/5c1769bc-8f7 ... 9a1dfede9b . If asset-stripping made companies more efficient, could you name a single company which benefitted from Slater's activities?

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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:02 pm

Mind you, the Singapore government (we are talking Lee Kuan Yew here, presumably) had issues of their own it is fair to say.
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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by John Upham » Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:05 pm

Hopefully in 2022 his contribution to a well-known match will be commemorated.

No doubt Leonard has much to tell us about Jim?
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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by NickFaulks » Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:30 pm

Gerard Killoran wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:00 pm
If asset-stripping made companies more efficient, could you name a single company which benefitted from Slater's activities?
Slater, Walker Securities.
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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Nov 19, 2021 5:57 pm

Roger Lancaster wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:12 pm
A controversial figure in some respects, particularly to those who considered him a financial asset-stripper, but UK chess owes him a big debt.
I love English chess
Roger Lancaster wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 3:34 pm
No-one (as far as I know) has questioned his integrity
From the FT obituary:
Slater and some fellow executives were widely suspected of insider dealing
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:08 pm

His enterprise was also satirised by Monty Python at the time (as Slater Hitler IIRC)
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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by John Townsend » Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:36 pm

I wonder when the FT obituary had in mind in referring to insider dealing. No-one should condone insider dealing, but I believe it wasn't actually a criminal offence until 1980.

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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by Roger de Coverly » Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:51 pm

John Townsend wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:36 pm
I wonder when the FT obituary had in mind in referring to insider dealing.
From the obituary
Slater and some fellow executives were widely suspected of insider dealing through an offshoot called Tokengate, which acquired shares in companies that were often involved in Slater deals. Though yet to be criminalised, insider trading was frowned on in the City — not least because adverse publicity might prompt a regulatory crackdown. Slater’s downfall came in the financial crisis of 1974-75.
That would be the period from 1970 to 1974. Private Eye of the period or a couple of years later had material on Tokengate.

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Gerard Killoran
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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by Gerard Killoran » Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:52 pm

John Townsend wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 6:36 pm
I wonder when the FT obituary had in mind in referring to insider dealing. No-one should condone insider dealing, but I believe it wasn't actually a criminal offence until 1980.
No, it was just cheating the public. But who cares when someone bungs a few quid our way?

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Re: Remembering Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)

Post by Gerard Killoran » Fri Nov 19, 2021 8:51 pm

From

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/11/23/arch ... later.html
Slater, Walker therefore created a special incentive plan. It formed investment trusts for its executives and a few of its best clients. The Times of London has alleged that the trusts traded in securities of companies in which Slater, Walker was preparing to take over. The stock would rise when the investing public learned of Slater, Walker's intentions, and the executives would pocket the gain.

This idea was one of Slater, Walker's many innovations, and it was perfectly legal, although the laws of prudence and conscience in the City had prevented such activity in the past.

Authorities in Singapore recently uncovered what they believe to be such an operation. Until 1973, Slater, Walker owned 26.4 percent of Haw Par Brothers International, an investment banking company there.

In Hong Kong, meanwhile, Slater, Walker had an incentive plan for executives, an investment trust now defunct. It has been widely reported here that the trust, called Spydar, traded in securities in which Haw Par was dealing, and Singapore authorities have alleged that Spydar was doing it at the expense of Haw Par's smaller stockholders. One of Spydar's beneficiaries was Mr. Slater.

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