LONDON (Reuters) - The boss of Britain's biggest listed fund manager has called for calm in the debate about British membership of the European Union and said concerns the economy would collapse after an "out" vote were overdone.
Michael Dobson, whose firm Schroders (L:SDR) manages around 300 billion pounds in assets on behalf of retail and institutional investors, said Britain's economy was doing well relative to mainland Europe, and he was waiting for more information to emerge ahead of the vote.
He was concerned, though, that there was currently "too much emotion" in the debate.
"Both polarised Eurosceptics and Europhiles use too emotional language about a decision which should be made on facts and good information," he told independent journalist and novelist Alain Elkann, in an interview on his personal website.
"I think it unlikely we will vote to leave. If we do, we will reach an accommodation with the EU after a couple of years, one that works for both sides. Talk of economic suicide or catastrophe is very wide of the mark."
The interview with Elkann - once married to Fiat family scion Margherita Agnelli and father to the automaker's chairman, John Elkann - was conducted on Nov. 12. Some of Dobson's views were reproduced over the weekend in Italian newspaper La Stampa.
Schroders declined to make additional comment when contacted by Reuters on Monday, but a spokeswoman confirmed that the comments in the article did reflect Dobson's views on the topic.