Following the collapse of the equity markets over the past three years, it is hard to see when Nationwide Mutual will get a significant return from the £1bn (€1.4bn) it spent on Gartmore Investment Management in early 2000.

However, after a dramatic revamp of Nationwide's initial five-year plan, Glyn Jones, chief executive of Gartmore, is working hard to deliver. He wants to accelerate the launch of hedge funds, boosted by the recruitment of new talent. "We may supplement this strategy through the marketing of third-party single strategy hedge funds," he says.