2004 sees large number of high-profile changes
People
Senior sales staff and management at fund houses joined more than 100 fund managers in the usual job...
Senior sales staff and management at fund houses joined more than 100 fund managers in the usual job merry-go-round last year.
Industry figures such as Phil Wagstaff, Mike Webb, Francis Ghiloni and Gary Mairs all left their respective jobs in 2004. On the sales side, the past year also saw the key departures of Simon Wombwell from Newton, M&G's Simon Clark and Fidelity's Colin Tipping.
On the fund manager side, throughout 2004 Investment Week reported on the departure of some 107 managers, a combination of redundancies as well as those poached by competitors.
Among the groups most affected by moves last year were Newton, Investec and Isis.
Newton lost four managers, including Clive Beagles to JO Hambro Capital Management. Following F&C's takeover of Isis, the combined group has suffered a number of high-profile departures, starting with CIO Robert Talbut. He was followed by eight fund managers including Aim managers Bill Brown and Robert Mitchell who set up their own boutique.
The past year saw a further 10 managers step down from their funds but remain with their respective companies.
The pace of new fund launches did not appear to slow much over 2004 with Investment Week reporting on the launch of some 60 different funds. Of these, there was an emphasis on total return portfolios, flexible bond funds, property vehicles and VCTs. These launches do not include the vast number of structured products that were on offer, amounting to more than 560 by the end of December.
More on Equities
Most read
