City fund manager settles £17m claim

A fund manager who lost his "magic touch" after suffering head injuries in a car accident ended his record £17m claim for damages yesterday in an out-of-court settlement thought to be one of the biggest ever.

Julian Glatt was earning £250,000 a year and managed funds worth more than £2bn when he was knocked down by a car in north London in 1994.

Lawyers estimated that the driver's insurance company, which had admitted 75 per cent liability, had agreed to pay Mr Glatt up to £10m. Mr Glatt's lawyers confirmed that the settlement involved a "substantial figure" and that Mr Glatt was pleased with the outcome.

His barrister, William Norris QC, told the High Court on Tuesday that Mr Glatt had "gilt-edged connections" and had been on the brink of joining the "big league" of élite fund managers, where he would have been earning £3m a year. But after the accident Mr Glatt had lost that "indefinable magic component of decisiveness and judgement."

Although Mr Glatt was back at work within three weeks of the accident and is now earning "enormous sums" in property investment, he has been forced to abandon the career he loves. Mr Glatt himself described his former career in fund management as the "most addictive, wonderful, amazing job ... If you truly love this kind of business, you simply can't do without it."

He added: "It's hard to get back when you have not been in the job for a few years. It's one of the things I have to accept."

Later, Mr Glatt said that he was now "fighting fit" and looking forward to new challenges. "Now I can put the past behind me and get on with life."