UK’s Debt Chief Robert Stheeman, who has been leading the UK Debt Management Office, plans to retire next year. During his time in charge, he has played a significant role in helping the country raise more than £3 trillion (equivalent to $3.7 trillion) through bond markets over the last two decades.
Stheeman, who has held the position of CEO since 2003, will officially step down at the end of June. There will be a transition period during which he will work with his successor. The government announced this development in a statement released on Thursday. The search for his replacement will begin shortly, with the new appointment expected in early 2024.
Reflecting on his time at the DMO, Stheeman mentioned that it occurred “during a period of immense change in the UK and fixed-income markets globally.”
Robert Stheeman’s tenure as the head of the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) was marked by numerous challenging moments, including the global financial crisis, the euro-zone debt crisis, Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the unprecedented turmoil in the gilt market last year. Throughout these turbulent times, Stheeman provided a sense of stability for investors, even as different prime ministers and Bank of England governors came and went.
As Moyeen Islam, a rates strategist at Barclays Plc, aptly put it, “I once heard him described as ‘the most important person the average person on the street has never heard of.’ He is hugely respected by the market and has played a crucial role in establishing the DMO as one of the most highly regarded agencies for issuing government debt.”
Over the past 20 years, the UK’s public sector debt relative to its economic output has risen significantly, reaching around 100%. This year, UK government bonds have faced a decline in value as the Bank of England (BOE) aggressively increased interest rates.
Robert Stheeman, who is 64 years old, has been at the helm of the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) for most of its existence. The DMO was established in 1998 when the responsibility for issuing government debt shifted away from the newly-independent Bank of England. Prior to joining the DMO, Stheeman spent 16 years working at Deutsche Bank AG as the director of its Debt Capital Markets Group, where he collaborated with sovereign issuers.
