GAM named a former Blackrock executive as its new CEO. The move comes one year after a scandal over a flagship bond became public.
The Swiss-based asset manager is naming Peter Sanderson as its new CEO, effective in September, it said in an emailed statement on Monday. He replaces David Jacob, a GAM director who had taken the helm as an emergency measure last fall.
Until last year, the British-born Sanderson was a managing director at U.S. fund giant Blackrock, where he was head of financial services consulting in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Jacob, will return to GAM's board, where he will in spring replace Chairman Hugh Scott-Barrett.
Fund Sale
The appointment comes shortly after GAM shut down the troubled bond fund which began the company's downward spiral 12 months ago. Since then, GAM scrapped its dividend after reporting a net loss last year and began slashing spending in a recovery effort under Jacob.
Separately, GAM said on Tuesday it is selling four precious metal funds with $1.8 billion in assets to Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB), a Swiss regional lender which is backed by local government. ZKB is buying the asset for $14 million in a deal which is expected to close later this quarter.
Rebuke from Investors
The scandal around the fund, an absolute return bond product, sparked a shareholder rejection of GAM's company's management and board in May, and an influential politician in the U.K. is calling for deeper regulatory scrutiny of GAM.
More to follow
