Evening Standard from London, Greater London, England • A23

NEWSEVENING STANDARD of Amazing Mr Wace 23 almost had to be pulled from them. The sergeant at the scene persuaded him it was better to go with the living not the He did go with his wife, Joanne, to Salisbury District Hospital. She died there of her injuries. The coroner, Grahame Short, recorded a verdict of accidental death. words of mine can ever console Mr he said.

was the hand of For a while, Wace refused to believe it. He kept seeing the last wild manoeu- vres of his Range Rover in his mind. He developed a theory that the four-wheel drive vehicle could become unstable at high speeds. Wace began receiving telephone calls and letters. A barrister in Jersey, whose daughter was killed and wife seriously injured in a Range Rover crash in France, said his vehicle full circle and when he swerved to avoid another car.

Wace was contacted by a close friend of Bob Payton, the American who introduced Chicago-style rib shacks to Britain. Payton died when his Range Rover went over a crash barrier on the A1. Of 300 letters Wace received, 30 were from people who feared for the safety of Range Rovers and similar four-wheel drive cars. At one point it looked as if Wace was about to embark on a campaign to prove the vehicle that took the lives of his family was unsafe. But there was evidence to show Range Rovers were not unstable and he dropped it.

It emerged that the safety barrier on the A 303 had not been designed to resist a vehicle of the Range size and weight. HERE was another twist of the knife. Just after the inquest, he received a letter from the Highways Authority, acting for the Department of Transport. It contained a bill for damages to the inadequate crash barrier that failed to save his family. The letter advised sending the claim to his insurance company.

When the circumstances were pointed out, the department said the letter had been terrible An inquiry was ordered. Wace accepted an apology and threw himself into his work. In 1997 he and his partner Paul Marshall set up Marshall Wace Asset Management. Today, their fund handles more than £4 billion and is among the top 10 in Europe. They floated a listed hedge fund in Amsterdam last month for £1 billion.

It was oversubscribed. The reason, City pundits say, is that Wace and Marshall developed an investment tool that has delivered consistently stunning results. It is based on a computer model that analyses information from the trading floors, evaluating the brokers with the best recommendations. The process, TOPS Trade Optimised Portfolio System has helped make Marshall Wace one of the most successful hedge funds in the City. Ian Wace is chief executive and still very much hands-on.

But he also works as a trustee in Arpad ARK charity. ARK Absolute Return for Kids invests millions in combating Aids in Africa, and educating deprived children. In Romania, it has worked to close down orphanages by placing children in family care. After the £1 billion deal in Amster- dam, and the promise of more to come, Wace is the toast of the City. He is a major player in the great game of creating world-beating success for London.

But only those who know the painful history can really understand Ian own personal triumph. Second chance: the new £20million country home of Ian Wace (above) and (below) his former family home in Putney Check out hundreds of clips from forthcoming films and exclusive video interviews with all the big stars THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX BABEL FACTORY GIRL thisislondon.co.uk the entertainment guide TRAILERS I.