Royal London Asset Management's Ivor Pether will take over management of the £405m RLAM UK Equity fund following the departure of the firm's head of equities, Jane Coffey.
Pether (pictured), an RLAM veteran who has spent 30 years at the group managing a range of UK equity portfolios, will report to RLAM CIO Robert Talbut in the new role.
The fund itself has struggled over the last year compared to peers. The £405m portfolio returned 9.2% in the last year versus the IMA UK All Companies sector average of 14.9%.
Pether's appointment follows the exit of Coffey whose departure was confirmed today. Her future had been in the spotlight after the group's decision to overhaul the management of some of its equity funds.
The restructure will see RLAM switch its Japanese and Far Eastern assets from active to passive strategies.
RLAM had already announced Jonathan McClure, manager of the £289m Royal London Japan Growth fund, and Edward Chan, manager of the £478m Royal London Far East fund, were exiting as a result of the changes.
The RLAM move is the latest in a number of equity division restructures at UK asset managers.
Last year Aviva Investors and SWIP announced reorganisations, the latter also switching to passives for many strategies, while Henderson has also been streamlining its range.
