Rosalind Hewsenian made a valiant effort to save Clay Finlay when she was hired as chief executive officer of the New York money management boutique in November 2007 from investment consulting firm Wilshire Associates, where she had been a principal and a managing director.
In six weeks she hammered out a three-year growth plan for the firm, which manages global equity strategies for institutional investors and is owned by Boston’s Old Mutual Asset Management.
But then came the crash of 2008, which ravaged the overseas markets in which Clay Finlay had made some of its biggest bets. Assets fell by half, to $1.8 billion as of March 31, swamping the business. In early May, Old Mutual announced that it was shutting the boutique down. “In my 30 years of experience, I have not seen this before,” says Hewsenian, who is now spending her time helping clients move their remaining funds. “But I am not panicking over the fact that Clay Finlay is closing down.”
