The Swiss bank is parting ways with a credit fund overseen by star trader Hamza Lemssouguer, after its planned launch was stymied by trouble at the wider asset management unit.
Zurich-based Credit Suisse will let go of Arini, an asset management vehicle it set up this year for Hamza Lemssouguer, according to a memo seen by finews.asia on Wednesday. A veteran fixed income trader, Lemssouger was poised to launch Arini, which reportedly aimed for $500 million in assets.
«...we have agreed with Hamza that it would be in the best interest of prospective investors and the team for Arini to proceed outside of Credit Suisse,» asset management top executives Eric Varvel and Michael Levin wrote in the memo.
Risk Shackled
The launch of Arini's first fund earlier this year was halted in April, after the Swiss bank became mired in first Greensill Capital, then roughly $5 billion in losses on Archegos. Arini is the first prominent victim of Credit Suisse's shackled risk-taking: the bank simply cannot seed new asset management funds until it sorts of its messes.
Credit Suisse's reevaluation of its asset management strategy amid the supply chain troubles was quickly subsumed by a far wider review of its overall risk, strategy, and culture. A spokeswoman for the bank confirmed the contents, first reported by «Bloomberg» earlier on Wednesday.
Sale Urged
Credit Suisse said Lemssouguer and several other bankers in the Arini team «have engaged with clients and would like to capitalize on current dislocations in European credit.» The bank said it will support a smooth transition to independence.
Varvel handed over the reins of the wider money management unit to Ulrich Koerner, but he remains president and CEO of Credit Suisse in the U.S. Levin is head of the asset management unit in the Americas. Analysts at Barclays have urged a sale of the troubled business.
