Manager Changes - August 2009 Gartmore UK Equity:
Gartmore has hired Leigh Himsworth as Head of UK Equity from Royal London Asset Management. Full details are yet to be finalised, but at Royal London Himsworth managed the UK Mid Cap Growth Trust fund, which will be taken over by Derek Mitchell, manager of the Royal London UK Special Situations Trust fund.
Ignis Multi-Manager:
Vincent Ropers has joined Ignis Asset Management as a portfolio manager on the company’s multi-manager fund range where he will work alongside Simon Mungall, Head of Multi-Manager at the group. Ignis has three funds which were previously managed by Maia Capital, where Ropers and Mungall worked together.
Hermes Fixed Income:
Hermes Fund Managers has appointed Neil Williams as Chief Economist for its fixed income team. Williams joins from Mizuho International where he was Head of Sovereign Research/Strategy, and at Hermes he will provide analysis of key economic issues for the fixed income and index-linked bond mandates.
Skandia UK Strategic Best Ideas:
Tim Steer will again run the Artemis mandate for the Skandia UK Strategic Best Ideas fund, taking over from John Wood. Steer managed the mandate when he was at New Star, but when he left the group in March 2009, he relinquished this duty. The UK Strategic Best Ideas fund is typically managed by ten managers from different management groups combining their best ideas, but currently there are only nine managers running the fund.
Aviva UK Growth:
Aviva Investors has appointed John Wood as manager of the Aviva UK Growth fund, taking over from Chris Murphy when he joins in October 2009. Wood joins from Artemis where he was a senior fund manager of UK and European portfolios. At Aviva, Wood will also be responsible for developing the group’s institutional UK equity business. Murphy will remain with the group and will concentrate on his equity income mandates.
LV= UK Equities:
LV= Asset Management (LVAM) has hired Graham Ashby as Head of UK Equity and to manage the UK Growth and UK Equity Income funds. Ashby was running the Credit Suisse equity income funds, but Aberdeen Asset Management recently purchased this part of Credit Suisse, and then sold the portfolios to Premier Asset Management. LVAM also appointed Michael Crawford, Marcus Chandler and Mira Bhogaita, who all worked with Ashby at Credit Suisse.
Thames River European Equities:
Thames River has hired Trygve Tøraasen as a portfolio manager on its European Equity team. Tøraasen will be responsible for the Thames River European fund, alongside Carlos Moreno. Tøraasen joins from Fidelity where he spent 14 years during which time he managed European mandates, and also worked alongside Moreno.
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