Charles Farquharson To Head Fund Distribution At Insight

Charles Farquharson is to join Insight Investment Management as head of distribution. Farquharson, 44, will join Insight at the beginning of 2005. He was previously at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers where he occupied a number of senior executive roles with

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Charles Farquharson is to join Insight Investment Management as head of distribution.

Farquharson, 44, will join Insight at the beginning of 2005. He was previously at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers where he occupied a number of senior executive roles with the company, latterly as head of their European, Middle Eastern and Asian institutional businesses. He will head teams with responsibility for all sales, marketing and relationship management across all distribution channels.

“Given the changing nature of both institutional and retail markets it is important we distribute into these areas in a consistent and focused manner,” says Insight chief executive Douglas Ferrans. “We sought a leader who was a distribution expert with a proven track record in relationship management across Europe. Charles has all the attributes we have been seeking and we are looking forward to him leading this development.”

Today’s announcement takes account of the decision, made some months ago, by Gary Mairs, deputy chief executive, that he wished to be free to pursue new opportunities. Mairs will leave Insight at the year end now that the resultant transition plan has been announced. He has been responsible for the day-to-day management of the business, which has seen out-performance of its business objectives in each of the last three years, the successful acquisition and integration of Rothschild Asset Management and for transforming the property business. Ferrans noted, “Gary goes with our full support for the future and my thanks for the pivotal role he played in enabling us to achieve this success.”

The executive directors of Insight will now comprise: Douglas Ferrans (chief executive), Charles Farquharson (head of distribution), Keith Lovett (chief risk officer), Atul Manek (chief operating officer), Abdallah Nauphal (chief investment officer) and Duncan Owen (head of property).

In addition to these changes, Insight is aligning its retail product and distribution strategies to reflect a greater focus on multi-manager. As a consequence David Norman (managing director, business partnerships), is leaving Insight. Commenting on his departure, Ferrans said, “David was in many ways the architect of the Insight brand in relation to our customer service proposition and associated values, culminating in our identity and name. We wish him well and thank him for his important role in establishing our position in the mutual fund market in the past few years with regards to funds managed for both Insight and other HBOS brands.”

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