Manchester Evening News
When a 13-year-old Marc Duschenes inherited £250 in shares from a distant relative, it sowed the seeds of what was to become an illustrious career in the City.
While most teenagers would balk at a dusty share certificate and immediately demand the cash, Marc requested research notes on the stock from his father's broker!
His findings saw him hang on to the shares before finally selling them when the stock had gone up. It was his maiden trade, and the first of many which took place from the pay phone outside Manchester Grammar School by the ambitious schoolboy.
The Financial Services Authority didn't exist then! quips Marc. The first thing I did when I got home from school each night was look at the markets on Teletext. By the time I was 18, I was trading in derivatives, which mostly through luck matured quite nicely!
Marc, who is the son of a horologist, began his childhood ventures making clocks and selling them to retailers in Manchester. Today the once-savvy schoolboy has grown into a 34-year-old entrepreneur who is the head of north west property investment group, Braemar, which has funds and assets worth around £500m. Distracted
But, like many entrepreneurs, he was a "non-conformist" at school and his exam results didn't exactly set the world alight. It is fair to say I was distracted at school by my commercial interests, says Marc.
Nevertheless, he got a place at Leeds University to study maths. He also continued to play the stock markets and hold down a number of part-time jobs, and it was one particular summer role which opened the door to a much-desired career in the City.
He says: I got an eight-week placement at BZW – now Credit Suisse – working with a fantastic team of analysts. The following Easter I went back again, but I began to get nervous I wouldn't get a job in the City because of my A-level results and the fact that I was at a provincial university. So I decided to take the Securities and Futures Authority exams early.
By the time he went back for a third stint, Marc has passed his exams and was given a laptop and a part-time role as an analyst while he studied for his degree. After graduating in 1996, Marc walked straight into BZW as a vice president – a role which usually took three to four years to achieve.
A couple of years later, Marc joined NatWest Markets which, after seven months, became Deutsche Bank – a move that saw Marc jump ship and land a senior position as a director at Kleinwort Benson where he eventually set up the group's hedge fund trading desk.
Marc was part of a team trading up to $100m a day, and it was certainly a long way from his £250 trade from a pay phone. And of course Marc was also paid handsomely for his efforts. Invested
But unlike many of his contemporaries, he didn't drive around in flash cars or lavish tens of thousands of pounds on luxury holidays. Instead he invested his bonuses on apartments in London's Canary Wharf.
It was a sideline that taught him about the property market and eventually spawned Braemar, but not before other events finally prompted Marc to turn his back on the City.
He says: It was time for me to leave. Two weeks before 9/11 I'd been at the top of the World Trade Centre. I'd also seen guys have heart attacks because of the stress. And the non-conformity, which started at Manchester Grammar School, had continued in my career in the City, so often it was a struggle working for someone else.
Braemar began life in 2002, initially in London, but Marc then moved backed to the north west.
Mark, who now owns 25 per cent after the company's 2005 flotation, says Hale-based Braemar has been designed to be a £1bn company and is on track to achieve its goals.
Despite recently reporting widening losses of £109,000 in the six months to September 30 which, Marc says, was a result of investment in people, systems and infrastructure, the group has weathered the storm much better than a number of other property companies.
Marc says this is a result of its rapid response to the early signs of the downturn and Braemar's subsequent move to inflation-led funds such as farmland, ground rent and student accommodation.
Despite leaving behind the trading floors of the City, Marc is not someone to forget his roots and has once again returned to Manchester Grammar School to encourage entrepreneurship among the pupils.
He is a member of The Manchester Grammar School Angels – a venture capital group that invests in business ideas from the pupils. Marc has also given lecturers on the workings of the stock exchange as part of the school's new economics curriculum, and set up a junior trader competition for the students.
While the pay phone that Marc made his first trade from has now disappeared he hopes his efforts will encourage others to embrace the opportunities that a career in the world of finance can offer
He adds: The north west is under represented in the City and I hope that I can do something to help change that!
CAPTION: Marc Duschenes - the MGS 'non-conformist'
Read the full story here
|
