Chris Fishwick, a former fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management has rejected a suggestion that he is the "unacceptable face of the city".

I apologise to investors

Chris Fishwick

Mr Fishwick, who resigned from Aberdeen Asset Management recently, was appearing before a Treasury Select Committee hearing into the split caps scandal.

In what were often heated exchanges, Mr Fishwick who has been dubbed "Mr Splits", apologised to investors.

Up to 50,000 investors are believed to have lost money form the controversial trusts through Aberdeen and other companies.

But Mr Fishwick denied collusion between fund managers and said he had been made a "scapegoat".

Career change direction

Mr Fishwick said he was having a "career direction change" and defended his multi-million pound severance package.

We tried our best, we really did try to save this

Chris Fishwick

"It became quite clear to me that it was not benefiting Aberdeen Asset Management being there any longer".

He said he left the company by "mutual agreement", but complained about being hounded by the press.

"At the end of the day when you get TV cameras flying over your house - I don't seek public office - and cameras sticking through your door, it eventually became unbearable."

In a series of curt questions from Conservative MP David Ruffley, he was asked: "How does it feel to be the unacceptable face of the City, Mr Fishwick?"

"I don't believe I am the unacceptable face of the City, quite frankly." Mr Fishwick replied.

Apologies

Sustained falls in the stock market have led to trouble in a number of trusts across the sector, including several run by Aberdeen Asset Management.

We should have sold every single share at the top

Chris Fishwick

Split caps and zeros are complex investments, which were marketed as an ideal way to save for retirement or school fees.

But high levels of bank debt, particularly in the new or restructured trusts, exposed the funds' fragility when market conditions worsened.

This has led to 19 trusts across the sector suspending their shares, going into receivership or becoming insolvent, leaving investors with nothing.

Desperately sorry

Aberdeen was quizzed about the failure of individual trusts by the committee on Tuesday.

Questioned about the failure of Aberdeen High Income Trust, Martin Gilbert, Aberdeen chief executive said he was "desperately sorry" that people had lost money.

"We tried our best. We really did try to save this," he said.

Mr Fishwick added: "It failed and I apologise to investors. We know these people. They are not faceless people, they come to our meetings. I know them personally."

Aberdeen's woes

Gary Marshall, managing director of Aberdeen's unit trusts business, told the committee that the company had no plans to sell its retail fund unit.

Aberdeen's share price has plummeted in value since January 2001.

Mr Fishwick said the company had paid off �1bn of debt, and the company had been working 18 hours a day to resolve the problems.

He was asked if the board had taken action early enough.

"One would have loved to have taken action before. I repeat again we should have sold every single share at the top."

Other investigations

Today's hearing is one of only a series of investigations by the Treasury Select Committee into the complex trusts.

It has been estimated that up to �3bn could have been lost by private investors.

John McFall, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, said it had a "long road to travel" in its investigations, and said it planned to interview a large number of firms across the industry.

In an additional session on Tuesday morning, a representative from the Association of Investment Trust Companies, the industry body, said: "After September 2001 I began to become concerned that zeros would lose all their value.

"We moved from a state of nervousness to sheer terror - and that happened over a period of years," he added.

The City watchdog the Financial Services Authority also launched an investigation in May.

Under its spotlight are a so-called "magic circle" of split cap managers, who have been accused of using investor money to prop up the share price of ailing funds.