A New Era: Richard Oldfield on the Future of Schroders and the Asset Management Industry
Most CEOs take years to make their mark. But after three decades dissecting and helping other people’s businesses at PwC, our guest today spent just two years inside Schroders before deciding it was time to sell the 222-year-old business. In this conversation, Richard Oldfield explains why he was convinced it was the right path to take, and why the family-controlled business and its board were persuaded. He describes the irresistible forces changing the investment business and specifically analyses the co-existence of private and public assets, the potential paths of passive and active, and if size matters more than ever. He discusses the footprint, asset mix and culture which Nuveen offers and how the combined group will manage $2.5tn, becoming one of the world’s largest active managers. He explains why public markets are essential, how AI is being implemented in their business, the important Asian opportunity, and why benchmarks can provide the wrong skew in understanding risks. The Money Maze Podcast is kindly sponsored by J.P. Morgan Asset Management*, IFM Investors, World Gold Council and LSEG.*During the episode we cite J.P. Morgan Asset Management as Europe’s leading active ETF provider by assets under management. This is sourced from J.P. Morgan Asset management and Bloomberg, data as of 30 March 2026.
