Hans-Jörg Rudloff, one of the leading Eurobond bankers from the 1980s to the 2010s, has died aged 85.
Rudloff, who held prominent posts at Credit Suisse and Barclays, was often spoken of with admiration as one of the most influential bankers in that stage of the market’s development.
Born in Cologne in 1940, he studied economics at Berne, then joined Credit Suisse in Geneva in 1965. He worked for Kidder Peabody in New York from 1967 to 1980, ending as a board member.
These were the early years of the Eurobond market, which grew up as a way for borrowers from the US, Europe and Japan to tap the growing pool of savings held in Europe, particularly Switzerland.
Rudloff returned to Credit Suisse, which became one of the leading investment banks in the market, especially after its merger with First Boston in 1988. Rudloff became vice-chairman of CSFB in 1983 and chairman and CEO in 1989.
“He was charming, a good negotiator and an energetic, tough boss,” said a former banker who knew him in the 1980s. “That combination of a smile and humour, but at the same time fiercely competitive.”
Rudloff was an early mover into Russia and eastern Europe when they opened up to capital markets after the end of Communism and helped make CSFB a leader in bond issues for borrowers there — a highly profitable business.
At that stage Rudloff was sometimes called the King of the Euromarkets.
The former banker credits Rudloff with initiating the creation of the International Primary Market Association, which represented investment banks in the Eurobond market.
In 1993 Rudloff was ousted from the leadership of CSFB and moved to Credit Suisse headquarters in Zurich. He was a board member, but stepped down in 1994 “to pursue personal and family interests”.
With Peter Ogden, he set up MC Securities, which was active in eastern Europe, and became controlled by Banque Bruxelles Lambert. It was later bought by investment bank Robert Fleming.
In August 1998 Rudloff became chairman of the executive committee of Barclays de Zoete Wedd, then led by Bob Diamond, who had worked with Rudloff at CSFB.
As BZW and later Barclays Capital, the firm was building up into a leading bond house and while Diamond’s experience was in trading, Rudloff was a convincing originator.
"When we hired him — ironically it was right around the EM sovereign crisis — people were so thrilled, he was such an esteemed figure in Eurobonds," said a banker who worked at Barclays at the time. "We thought it was one of the biggest coups ever."
The former competitor said: “He was the eminence grise, a senior figurehead. Bob Diamond came from Morgan Stanley [and Credit Suisse] as the business driver — Rudloff was the business getter.”
In 2005 the IPMA merged with the International Securities Market Association to form the International Capital Market Association, still the European bond new issue market’s leading trade body. Rudloff became ICMA’s first chairman.
Rudloff retired from Barclays in 2014, still chairman of the investment bank, as he had been for 16 years.
“He oversaw the expansion of Barclays Capital from its UK roots; first to Europe, then to the US, and on to its position today as one of the leading Investment Banks in the world,” said Eric Bommensath and Tom King, the co-CEOs of the investment bank, in a memo announcing his retirement. “He has helped to steer our progress from the earliest days of Barclays Capital, and will be known to many across our industry not just for his piercing insights and deep understanding of issues, but also for his guidance as a coach and mentor.”
More recently, Rudloff had been chairman of Marcuard Heritage, a wealth manager with offices in Zurich, Singapore, Limassol and Abu Dhabi.
GlobalCapital will publish a fuller appreciation in the coming days