Morley Fund Management, one of the UK’s largest active fund managers, announced today that chief investment officer (CIO) Katherine Garrett-Cox has resigned and will be leaving the company at the end of March 2007.
Morley’s head of strategy, Adrian Jarvis, will take on the role of interim CIO from that date. Katherine will be taking up a new role as chief investment officer and group executive director with Alliance Trust, based in Dundee, Scotland.
Chris Phillips, whose appointment as Morley’s new CEO was recently announced, is aware of her decision and supportive of Jarvis taking on the interim role.
As head of strategy, Jarvis is responsible for investment strategy, quantitative research and quant funds within Morley. Over the past six years he has taken charge of Morley’s internal asset allocation modelling
“Katherine leaves at the end of March with our best wishes and thanks for her contribution over the past three years,” says Philip Scott, group executive director of Aviva and chairman of Morley Fund Management. IIn her time at Morley she has brought her strong people management skills to the fore and introduced a more focused and commercial approach within the investment team. She has also championed Morley’s investment talent, evidenced by the promotion of Niall Paul from head of emerging market equities to head of equities and the fact that we can look to Adrian Jarvis to fulfil the interim CIO role.”
An executive search firm is being appointed to consider both internal and external candidates to replace Garrett-Cox. “It has been a difficult decision to leave Morley,” she says. “I have enjoyed building a first class investment team and I am especially proud of how we have come together and progressed on many fronts. So I will depart confident that I will leave behind a strong investment capability and great group of people to take the business forward.”
Garrett-Cox joined Morley in March 2004 from Aberdeen Asset Management where she had been CIO.