Threadneedle has decided to reflect its growth in the structure of its business by moving to three principal divisions with Divisional Directors who will each report to Simon Davies, Threadneedle’s Chief Executive. The appointment of Sarah Arkle, as Chief Investment Officer in October last year was the first of these moves.
Threadneedle has also decided to appoint Crispin Henderson a Chief Operating Officer who will take over the co-ordination of the finance, administration and IT functions to plan for new investment and to achieve the most effective deployment of resources to support Threadneedle’s continued expansion.
Crispin Henderson has in recent years been a senior client service partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers. He is Head of Investment Management Special Advisory Services and leads teams in such areas as business strategy, operational assessment, systems selection and risk management. He has led and been responsible for the firm’s global services to major clients, most particularly investment management clients – including Threadneedle. He will join on 1st March.
Bob Allen, Head of Investment Operations, Tom Challenor, Finance Director, Adrian Grimshaw, Head of IT and Rod Sweeney, Head of Retail Administration Services, will report to Crispin Henderson.
Threadneedle has also decided that it will be most effective to group both retail and institutional sales and marketing into a single Distribution Division.
This will be headed by David Sachon, who will become responsible for all sales, marketing and client services across institutional, defined contribution, retail and alternative investment businesses.
When the separation from Zurich Scudder is complete in a few months, the servicing of European institutional business for products managed in the US or Asia will pass to Deutsche Bank. In these circumstances, Stephen Cohen, the current head of the institutional business for the European (including UK), Middle East and Africa region, has decided to leave as he wishes to pursue a broad international role.
Mark Stanley, currently Co-Head of Threadneedle’s Defined Contribution business, has been appointed Head of Institutional Business responsible for business management including sales and marketing. The Defined Contribution business will continue to be headed by Emma Douglas, reporting to Mark Stanley and Institutional Client Services will continue to be headed by Ann Hughes, reporting to David Sachon.
At the same time, Malcolm Callaghan, Head of UK Institutional sales, has announced that he will be retiring to France later this year. However, he has agreed to continue his involvement in the further development of Threadneedle’s institutional business as a consultant. Stephen Holt will retain responsibility for UK institutional sales reporting to Mark Stanley.
Simon Davies said: “We have had to think carefully about the most effective way to develop our business further in the current market environment. We expect to see rising markets help the growth of assets under management in the next few years – but clearly not at the rates we saw in the late 1990s.
The investment business remains very competitive and there will be constant pressure on margins. In these circumstances we have to deploy our resources carefully and use economies of scale where we can find them. But it will be imperative to continue to invest both in the systems to maximise our efficiency and the people to lead our business, manage assets and service our clients. We believe this new structure will be of major importance in achieving this.
I am very pleased that Crispin Henderson, whose reputation is well known in the City, has decided to join us. He has huge experience and knowledge of the asset management industry.
I am very grateful to both Stephen Cohen and Malcolm Callaghan for their extremely successful efforts in developing our institutional business. We wish them well in the future.”
David Sachon said: “With the excellent teams Stephen and Malcolm have built, we should enjoy continued success under Mark Stanley’s leadership. We have ambitious plans for growing our institutional business in the next few years. We have one strong investment process under one brand. We must pursue a consistent and coherent message across the market. “
Crispin Henderson said: “I have been extremely impressed with the way Threadneedle has developed since its launch in 1994 from an unknown entity to a major competitor in both the institutional and retail business both in the UK and in Europe. Few if any other asset managers have achieved so much in such a short time. I am therefore excited to join their management team for the next phase of expansion.”