The Jobbing System of the London Stock Exchange: An Oral History
Ref.No.:	  32     Playback No.:

Interviewee's surname: Horner	Title: Mr
Interviewee's forenames:Christopher (Chris) Masterman
Date of birth:   24 July 1921	Sex: Male

Date(s) of recording: 21 June 1990
Location of interview: Institute of Historical Research
Name of interviewer:  Bernard Attard
Type of recorder:  Marantz CP 430
Total no. of tapes:     2   Speed:
Type of tape:   TDK AR 60    Noise reduction:   DBX
Mono or stereo:  Stereo      Original or copy:  Copy
Additional material: Copyright/Clearance: CMH; may be quoted on non attributable basis

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

Tape 1, Side 1

Birth in Twickenham in 1921; family background; education; joins uncle's broking firm, Lawrence Hancock, in 1937; general attitude to the Stock Exchange; contrast between large and small broking firms; spoon-fed brokers; description of Lawrence Hancock; importance of speculative business; Public Trustee a client; activities as one of the office boys; accelerated progress through the office during the early stages of the war; war service with the Air Force; bad debts resulting from the closure of speculative accounts; encouraged to go into business in South Africa after the war; inherits his uncle's Stock Exchange membership; difficulties experienced by the firm during five years after the war; conditions in the Stock Exchange post-war; back office staff lost to the banks; improvement of business; build up of the firm; merger in 1964 to form Scott Goff Hancock; introduction of a statistical department; becomes senior partner in 1971 and retires in 1978; client base; specialisation of research in particular areas; importance of ensuring that clients are able to settle their accounts; from 1946, Chris Horner always in the market; learns how to deal from the jobbers; explanation and example of 'picking up' a jobber, i.e. knowingly dealing at the wrong price; explanation and example of 'dealing round the market', i.e. taking parts of the same order to different jobbers without telling them what you have done; ways a jobber would avoid dealing with a broker; client who goes through several brokers to sell stock.

Tape 1, side 2

What would say to a client who goes through several brokers to sell stock; dealing with a large order; importance of not killing the market; problems caused by fund managers who thought they knew more about the market than the broker; Chris Horner's arbitrage client; relationship of trust that builds up between Chris Horner and jobbers; wrong to be too popular; importance of checking the price; circumstances in which would not check the price; jobbers who deal for brokers; importance of getting the best price for your client; example of an aggressive jobber who was making the wrong price; example of dealing conventions with respect to 'opening' a broker; dealing code book used as guide when Chris Horner is a market official;' description of functions of a market official; example of the issues dealt with by market officials; relationship between large and small jobbers; no problems arose when there are only a small number of jobbers in a stock; story concerning 'Chips' Crickmer, who is the only jobber in a particular stock; characteristics of Durlacher, James Case and Smith Brothers; difference in background between jobbers and brokers; social mixing between jobbers and brokers; jobbers as a source of information; example of having a large number of orders when analyst puts out a 'sell' recommendation and value of good relations with jobbers in these circumstances; the role of jobbers in takeovers and stake building; little danger of relations between jobbers and brokers becoming too close; jobbers' contacts with clients and non-member firms.

Tape 2, side 1

Does not believe there was much contact between jobbers and clients and outside firms, or that there was much of a market outside the Stock Exchange; criticism of brokers who wished to do without jobbers; importance of a central market; Chris Horner prepared to do put throughs; unfairness of using jobber's price to trade in large amounts outside the Stock Exchange; importance of being sensitive to the market; opposition to price agreements; case of identical price being made by jobbers even when there was a large order in the market; jobbers often make the same price; skill of broker is in getting a better price; Chris Homer's attitude to the jobbers' committee; thinks that he could have been a jobber; qualities of a good jobber; importance of luck and examples of luck being a factor; memorable jobbers; Sidney Davis; Henry Marks; George Lazarus; 'Chips' Crickmer; Dicky Dyke; Percy Duke; reminiscences of Percy Duke; open bidding and offering in the Kaffirs market; example of when Chris Horner, as a broker, would bid openly; story of George Lazarus bidding openly and of Chris Horner doing the opposite to what Lazarus wants to do; qualities of the Kaffir market; dealing with the 'shop' through Sidney Davis; jobbers who take an interest in a company often not good jobbers; weak jobbers; weakness of old Stock Exchange is the scope to do things under hand; abuses connected with placings and introductions; by end of Chris Horner's career Stock Exchange is more professional and fairer; changes in the way jobbers dealt; Stock Exchange a good place for people-training, general training.