Lots of rich investment bankers keep a handsome home in London's Notting Hill and a palatial summer retreat in the South of France. Not so many have a home on Sergief Island, a windswept isle off the coast of Alaska. But Richard Greer, formerly of Commerzbank and recently arrived at German stockbroker Wolfgang Steubing, has a holiday home on the island.

Is it remote? "Well you fly to Seattle, take a local plane 600 miles north, then a boat, then there's a bit of walking, then you're there," explained Greer, whose better-known eccentricities include collecting old Russian tanks. There is no mains electricity and the only running water is in the stream. "The kids love it," said Greer. "The loo is up the hill and when they go we have to sit outside the hut with a gun in case of a bear."