KEY POINTS:
For a while, Eric Watson and Mark Hotchin thought I was obsessed with them. I heard through the grapevine that Eric thought I must have a crush on him since I kept writing about him. Actually, I'm not averse to horse-faced men with bad teeth - mmm, Jeremy Clarkson, Geoffrey Rush - but not Eric. Talk about an ego, though. Still, I did write a lot of stories about the Hanover Group.
A search of the National Business Review's database shows 29 stories, starting with a major feature about related party lending in 2002. I covered conflicts of interest with Elder's auditors (the accountant involved faced disciplinary action), related party transactions that hadn't been disclosed, and questioned the company's governance, such as lending money to fund Australian property spruiker Henry Kaye's seminars.
When I asked a simple question - why don't you file consolidated accounts? - I was visited by seven Hanover lawyers, accountants and spin doctors. To stand up to them, maybe I did need to be a little obsessed. It was nothing personal though.
Actually, that's not true.
I thought both men were arrogant, and the projects Hanover was investing in - Sebel Hotel, Matarangi Estates, Jack's Point - were too close for comfort.
Last week's statement from Hotchin as he froze the deposits of investors didn't convince me they had learnt humility either.
"We believe it is prudent to act early to preserve value for all," sounded as though Hotchin was benevolently protecting his investors, rather than telling them he was on the verge of default and they couldn't get their money out.
He also said the whole finance company model had collapsed. Not correct. Diversified lenders such as UDC, Marac and South Canterbury Finance have endured.
The non-bank finance companies have deposits of $5.9 billion, compared to $77.3 billion held by trading banks. Reserve Bank Governor Allan Bollard says disruption in the finance company sector is "unlikely to have widespread effects on the financial system and their effects on the economy are likely to be relatively contained".
This upbeat sentiment was in evidence last Friday afternoon as I was having a post-lunch drink at Soul Bar, in Auckland's Viaduct.
This is the restaurant that is part owned by Eric Watson. Being ground zero for property developers, Soul was heaving with spivvy middle-aged men wearing untucked shirts and sunglasses on their heads. They seemed jolly.
But if it was your hard-earned money which has gone down the drain, I don't blame you if you are feeling a bit obsessed with Hotchin and Watson right now.
A footnote to my piece last week about why we don't trust thin politicians. Gordon McLauchlan said Rodney Hide "looks like a walnut on a custard in his new jacket". But he points out that Shakespeare got there before me.
From Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2: "Let me have men about me that are fat; sleek-headed men, and such as sleep at night. Yon Cassius hath a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous."
I still maintain my concern that people who lose too much weight find their personality utterly changed. This extends to the fourth estate as well as politicians.
Broadcaster Mike Hosking used to look a bit Hooray Henry-ish in his pinstriped suit. But since losing half his weight he looks as though he is sleeping rough under Grafton Bridge, as my colleague Karl Du Fresne points out, while suggesting a whip-around to get Hosking into some sheltered accommodation.
On the other side of the scales, TV3's heavyweight political editor Duncan Garner, the brave journalist who dared to ask Winston Peters about donations during the Condi Rice presser, is no will o' the wisp.
And we don't see his girth, but we hear it: National Radio's Sean Plunket is a force to be reckoned with too.
deborah@coneandco.com
