Stephen Hester sprang to prominence as the junior partner in a dynamic duo parachuted in to save Abbey National in 2002 after its ill-fated foray into toxic derivatives.

Mr Hester played Robin to Luqman Arnold’s Batman. Together, they stabilised the bank, dumped its most poisonous assets, chopped the “National” from its name and sold the business to Santander, of Spain, in short order.

Mr Hester, 47, was then snapped up by British Land to be chief executive as its doyen, Sir John Ritblat, released his grip on the business. A strong first two years, during which he modernised the group, were followed by a tougher period as Land’s shares tanked amid the commercial property slump.

Well regarded in the City, Mr Hester was appointed by ministers as deputy chairman of Northern Rock when it was nationalised in February.

After taking a First in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford, Mr Hester served in a variety of roles in Credit Suisse First Boston in London and New York. He was the youngest managing director in the bank and rose to be co-head of investment banking in Europe. He likes skiing, opera, Manchester United and hunting — his wife is a master of foxhounds in Warwickshire. He is a trustee of Kew Gardens in London.

Arthur (Art) Ryan ran the mighty Prudential financial services business in the United States for 14 years, helping it to shrug off a damaging mis-selling scandal and later abandoning its mutual status to float it on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001. Unrelated to Britain’s Pru, Prudential Financial made a $3.1 billion profit last year, thanks in part to Mr Ryan’s strategy of diversification. Between the flotation and his retirement, the share price rose from $27 to over $90.

Before Prudential, Mr Ryan spent the bulk of his career in Chase Manhattan Bank, at one point running its retail banking and wealth management operations and rising to chief operating officer. He was a founding member of the Financial Services Forum, the grouping of top 20 financial institutions set up by Henry Paulson, of Goldman Sachs, shortly before he became US Treasury Secretary. Mr Ryan, 65, counts himself as second-generation Irish American, with roots in Tipperary. Active in charity work, he has pushed hard to improve school standards in Prudential’s home state of New Jersey.

He has the dubious distinction of being cited by USA Today to back up a theory that bald chief executives are at a disadvantage and tend to be replaced by hairier ones.

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