Ex-GAM fund manager Tim Haywood showed up to the asset manager’s annual meeting in Switzerland, but investors aren't getting a chance to hear from him, as finews.asia can reveal.
Shareholders of the Swiss-based asset manager won’t get to hear directly from Tim Haywood. The ex-bond fund star told finews.asia he was barred from the company’s shareholder meeting despite registering shares in order to participate. GAM disputed this view, saying if Haywood had been included in the shareholder register, he would have been allowed to the shareholder meeting.
Haywood told finews.asia he would have voted against GAM’s 2018 report because he disagrees with the company’s representation of events leading up to his dismissal. GAM sacked Haywood in February for gross misconduct.
GAM Defends Handling
He is appealing the decision, which came after Haywood’s former co-manager blew the whistle on him, as finews.asia exclusively reported in September. Haywood raised questions over the 18-month investigation into his behavior, which has yet to conclude.
GAM chairman Hugh Scott-Barrett (pictured below) defended the asset manager’s actions. «We’ve had to walk a fine line of actions and communications, but we do believe we have taken the right measures considering the circumstances,» he told shareholders.
GAM chairman Hugh Scott-Barrett
Board, C-Suite Rebuked
Shareholders disagreed, denying Scott-Barrett and six other board members backing for last year. Just 49.43 percent of shareholders voted for the so-called discharge, which exempts managers from liability for their actions, as recommended by an influential U.S. proxy group.
The whistleblowing has wrought havoc on GAM, which bled $21.5 billion in assets last year – clients left in droves after Haywood was suspended in July. «Looking at our numbers does not make easy reading,» emergency CEO David Jacob said. The company posted a net loss for the year, scrapped its dividend, and embarked on an aggressive cost-cutting program last year.
