Merrills raids Macquarie investment team
Macquarie Investment Management (MIM) has lost two key members of its investment team with the resignations of Rochelle Hall and Russell Maddox after four years with the company.
Macquarie Investment Management (MIM) has lost two key members of its investment team with the resignations of Rochelle Hall and Russell Maddox after four years with the company.
The two senior team managers, previously responsible for cash and fixed interest, respectively are to leave MIM to pursue positions with Merrill Lynch Mercury Asset Management.
MIM has responded to the changes with internal promotions. Wayne Fitzgibbon takes charge of daily management of the cash and fixed interest team alongside his role as head of asset allocation, reporting to chief investment officer Greg Matthews.
Fitzgibbon will effectively replace the two departing managers.
Fund managers Paul Murray, Adam Kibble and Felix Stephen will take on responsibilities for cash products, Australian fixed interest and global fixed interest respectively while Dean Stewart will manage the stock selection for Australian enhanced and fixed interest.
All the staff involved in the reshuffle have been held portfolio management positions with MIM for a number of years and new staff may be hired to complement the nine staff which comprises the cash team.
"We are aiming to have people within the organisation to move into position if an event like this happens again so we will probably add more staff over the next few months after seeing how the current situation works out," Matthews says.
There will be no change to the way the managers perform their duties, Matthews says, and stresses the continuance of the existing process which is central to MIM’s investment approach.
"The day to day investment decisions are still being done by the same people so the process is unchanged and our team of strategists will continue to take responsibility for decisions relevant to the performance of their funds,” Matthews says.
“Because Macquarie has a large and experience team using a well defined process these changes mean that responsibilities have been quickly reassigned within the team.”
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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