In memory of a very good friend

This weekend marks the 8th anniversary of the sudden and unexpected death of my predecessor, Marcus Ringrose, an event that will be remembered with sadness by many people in the Credit and Political Risk Insurance Market, and that catapulted me into my current role.

For most of my career he was not just my boss, but my mentor and occasional co-conspirator, and most importantly one of my best friends. He was also a good friend and supporter to the rest of our team, and over his career had offered sage advice to many youngsters at the start of their careers some of whom are now extremely influential market figures.

He had a well-developed and very often subversive sense of humour, and an occasional tendency to take this beyond its logical conclusion in a way only he could have gotten away with. But this never detracted from the very strong sense of right and wrong that served as the lodestar for his moral compass. It is not for nothing that one of the first condolence emails we received described him as “a gruff gentleman whose integrity no-one would doubt”; and I can’t think of a finer epitaph than that, for Marcus or for anyone.

I spoke to his brother Rodney a couple of times in the run-up to this weekend with the idea of making arrangements to pay our joint respects at the cemetery where Marcus and his wife Mary are buried, as we have in previous years. Sadly, this is not going to be possible this year. However, Rodney did suggest that instead we should all “raise a prayer with a glass of cheer”, and with that poetic refrain ringing in our minds the three of us who were his team at the time did just that on Thursday.

And with that refrain in mind, I’ll also ask anyone reading this who knew Marcus, respected him and cherished him as a friend to raise a glass or two to his memory this weekend.

He was, like most of us, a complex character, but if you knew him, you will know that he would have loved this performance of “Guantanamera” (once you’ve clicked through a couple of very boring ads...)

As he would have said, “Peace and love”.