Wheel of fortune's favoured players

We examine who really calls the shots in 2003, who are the people to whom the adage 'money talks' applies. It's a way of taking a snapshot of the modern City: not looking at the most powerful institutions* but the individuals who count, who compel others to sit up and take note, and who genuinely have made their own fortunes.

This Is Money will be counting down the top 50 every day this week. In the second part of the countdown, brokers take the centre stage, says Evening Standard City Editor Chris Blackhurst.

__________________

39= Crispin Odey, 44
£30m
Odey Holdings

CRISPIN Odey came to prominence in 1994 when his salary was revealed to be £19.25m, compared with £2.8m in the previous year as head of his Odey Asset Management operation. Recent salaries at the renamed Odey Holdings have been more modest - £3.5m in 2001 and £1.9m in 2002. With his family, Odey has a 96% stake in Odey Holdings, which turned in a £39,000 loss on £5.9m sales in 2002. But as Odey turned bullish on equities last year, when markets reached their low point, he should do better this year on the recent rally. Despite the loss, Odey's past salaries and stakes in other ventures such as Buckle My Shoe should take him to a £30m fortune.

__________________

39= Sir David Howard, 57
£30m
Charles Stanley

A FORMER Lord Mayor of the City, Sir David Howard chairs quoted stockbroking firm Charles Stanley. The City-based operation has seen its shares fall sharply in the past couple of years as City deals have dried up and markets have fallen. The Howard family holds around 40% of the shares, a stake now worth £21m. Other assets, property, past dividends, salaries etc take the family to perhaps £30m.

__________________

Christopher Holdsworth Hunt, 54
Peel Hunt

CHRISTOPHER Holdsworth Hunt, an ex-Morgan Grenfell banker, founded City stockbroker Peel Hunt in 1990 with partner Charles Peel (see below). Floated on the stock market in February 2000, Peel Hunt was valued at £137.5m. Within a year, it was taken over by Belgium's KBC Bank in a £265m deal. Holdsworth Hunt's stake was worth around £30m. He remains managing director of KBC Peel Hunt, though in February it was revealed he had given 12 months' notice of quitting.

__________________

36= Ian Wace, 40
£33m
Marshall Wace Asset Management

FINANCIER Ian Wace is the partner of Paul Marshall (see below) in Marshall Wace Asset Management, a hedge fund operation based in central London. He has half the £46m company and we add another £10m for his past salaries, dividends etc.

__________________

36= Paul Marshall, 43
£33m
Marshall Wace Asset Management

FINANCIER Paul Marshall joined up with Ian Wace (see above) in 1997 to launch Marshall Wace Asset Management, a hedge fund operation based in central London. The business, which uses complex mathematical models to play the markets, had a spectacular run, turning profits of £37.3m on £89.5m sales in the year to August 2001. But this fell to £4.5m in 2002. Wace and Marshall each own half of the business which we value on its £46m net asset figure. The company also paid out around £35m in directors' salaries and dividends between 1999 and 2002, mostly to Marshall and Wace. We value them each at £33m, including past salaries etc.

__________________

34 TerrySmith, 50
£35m
Collins Stewart

FORMERLY an outspoken and fearless City analyst, Terry Smith is now chief executive of Collins Stewart, the stockbroker that bought itself out of Singer & Friedlander for £122m in May 2000. Floated on the stock market in October 2000, the shares have held up reasonably well and Smith's stake is now worth £33m. Past salaries, property etc, take him to £35m.

__________________

33 Henry Angest, 63
£37m
Secure Trust

MERCHANT banker Henry Angest led the management buyout of Secure Trust Banking Group, the City-based financial services group, in 1985. As chairman and chief executive of the quoted operation, he has a 44% stake worth £27m. Add in his smart London home, past salaries and dividends totalling around £2m a year, plus his separate Wyler Investments (with £1.4m of net assets in 2001), and Angest is easily worth £37m.

__________________

32= Guy Naggar, 62
£40m
Dawnay Day

CORPORATE raider and merchant banker Guy Naggar has extensive property and banking interests. He chairs City bank Dawnay Day and has at least £30m of net assets that we can see through his family or trusts in six companies of which the largest is Dawnay Day Properties, where he has a £25m stake. With other property and businesses, Naggar is worth at least £40m.

__________________

32= George Magan, 62
£40m
Lion Capital Partners

GEORGE Magan epitomised the smooth 1980s merchant banker, advising industrial giants such as BTR on their takeover strategy while at Morgan Grenfell. A chartered accountant, Magan later set up his own boutique, Hambro Magan, in 1988. Eight years later, he agreed to an £80m takeover by NatWest Markets and the business was renamed Hawkpoint Partners. That deal netted Magan between £10m and £30m. He and his senior staff later bought it back for around £20m. Now retired from Hawkpoint, Magan is still active in the City at Lion Capital Advisers, the private equity firm he chairs. He also has a New York private equity firm, Rhone Group. Past salaries, property (such as his three homes, including an Irish castle bought for £1m in 1991), his £1.5m of net assets in companies that we can see and the fact he could afford a recent £1m loan to the Tory Party, where he is now treasurer, indicate wealth of at least £40m.

__________________

32= Rory Carvill, 61
£40m
RK Carvill

RORY Carvill is a director and major shareholder in RK Carvill, a profitable Lloyd's re-insurance broker. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a Bermuda-based company, RK Carvill (International), in which Carvill is a majority shareholder. In 2001, Carvill saw its profits rise sharply to £5m on £34.8m sales. It paid out £37m in dividends between 1992 and 2001. We value RK Carvill at £30m on these profits. Carvill owns most of it. Past dividends (after-tax) and other assets take him to perhaps £40m.

__________________

29 Charles Peel
£44m
Peel Hunt

OLD Etonian Charles Peel left Morgan Grenfell to found City stockbroker Peel Hunt in 1990 with partner Christopher Holdsworth Hunt (see above). It specialised in dealing with small companies and came to the stock market in February 2000, valued at £137.5m. The shares soared and, in December 2000, it was taken over for £265m by KBC, a Belgian bank, valuing Peel's stake at £45m. Share sales of £900,000 at the float and other assets would normally take him to £48m. But he has given £4m to charity in recent years and £100,000 to the Labour Party. We cut him back to around £44m. He is still chairman of KBC Peel Hunt and currently has no plans to retire.

__________________

28 Stuart Wheeler, 67
£45m
IG Group

STUART Wheeler finished a respectable 33rd in the Poker World Series last month. Cleaned out in Las Vegas at the age of 67 maybe, but Wheeler looks set to cash in his chips big time from the impending sale of the IG spread betting operation he founded in 1974. It started by allowing clients to take a bet on the price of gold and now runs some of the most sophisticated books in the City. Wheeler floated the business on the stock market in July 2000. He made £5m from selling shares in the float and £10m in two tranches in 2001. Some £5.2m went to help the Tories. Last year, he sold another £7.3m of his stake to fund the restoration of his Kent castle. He retains a £32m stake until the takeover. In all, with his property and any remaining share sale proceeds, Wheeler is worth perhaps £45m.

TOMORROW: The King of Financial Spin and the Movie Financier. Find out who they are in Day Three of our guide to the Square Mile's richest people.

Rules of the City Rich List