All who knew him will have been very saddened to hear that Anthony Stern FCT passed away on 1 October after a long battle with cancer. Anthony played a significant role in the development of the ACT and was a tremendous advocate for the treasury profession.
A member from 1984, Anthony contributed to several committees and working groups, including chairing the Editorial Committee between 1994 and 1997. He was an elected member of Council 1992 to 2000, ACT President 2001/2002 and, until recently, a Trustee of the ACT Educational Trust.
Anthony’s finance and treasury career included roles at the then Chase Manhattan Bank, Dixons Group and Bass. His last full time role was as head of treasury at InterContinental Hotels Group plc (IHG). After stepping down from IHG he remained active and was a Panel Member of the Competition Commission and brought his strong pensions experience to the Pensions Regulator as a Member of its Determinations Panel.
Anthony was also a hugely popular speaker on the weeklong course that was run for the Cert ICM qualification. He combined a practical ‘war story’ approach with great charm and wit in delivery. He was as happy to do this in Loughborough as he was in Hong Kong; for the latter I needed little persuasion to agree with the team that Anthony’s presence would be well worth our commitment.
Although slightly younger than me, our career paths had intertwined for many years. When I was appointed ACT Chief Executive I ‘inherited’ Anthony as my first ACT boss. In his one year as President, I could not have had a more supportive or charming person to work with.
After my retirement in 2008 we became very good friends in addition to seeing each other at the ACT Educational Trust and other ACT events. We found we shared the enthusiasm of sixty year olds for serious walking. Anthony had been circumnavigating London on foot, using the Capital Ring. When he mentioned this to me I thought that this sounded wonderful and I joined him on the last leg of his journey. I then set about completing the other legs and, true to character, Anthony insisted on joining my group to repeat a stretch he had already walked.
Such was his passion for walking, Anthony also took himself off with a party to undertake the final 120 miles of the Santiago da Compostela pilgrimage route; he inspired me to do the same and offered nuggets of invaluable advice such as ‘avoid the snow’.
It turned out we also shared an enthusiasm for skiing, although when Anthony first talked about this it was clear that his appetite for hard black runs was probably going to outstrip my own. He came close to skiing with my group in January 2014 but was too unwell to join. In January this year he was feeling stronger and we skied for a week in a group of differing levels of expertise. A couple from Anthony’s group that week recounted how he had nursed the two of them down from a very tricky run very patiently and with great kindness to safer territory. This is typical of how people remember Anthony.
I was lucky enough first to know Anthony professionally and then away from the work context. I think that in life we are rarely fortunate to be able to combine the two. In both environments he had an ability to be both precise and charming, never over-powering but always showing and expecting integrity.
Not long before he died, we had an exchange of emails about ‘Father of the Bride’ speeches. I knew one of his daughters had recently married but I did not know that Anthony had been brought from hospital to the wedding by ambulance. With typical humour and precision, he summed up for me his advice on what was needed: “The Father of the Bride only has to say what a lovely daughter they have, what proud parents they are, what a good chap the bridegroom is; give a few examples; and Bob's your uncle”.
As a treasurer and as a friend Anthony was huge fun to be with and always stimulating. He will be much missed.
Richard Raeburn (former ACT Chief Executive)
