Perpetual appoints JOHCM CEO in brand refresh
Perpetual has appointed a new CEO for affiliate J O Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM), as it tries to stem outflows and refresh the brand.
The firm has appointed Bill Street, subject to regulatory approval, to drive growth in the global equity boutique.
Street joins JOHCM from PwC, where he was a senior adviser in asset and wealth management. Prior to this, he spent 13 years at State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) as its head of investments for EMEA and has 34 years overall in investment management experience.
He will take over from Clare Forster, who joined the firm in January 2023 and became CEO in March 2025. Forster will remain on the executive committee to support Street’s transition into the role and will continue on the board.
She initially joined JOHCM in 2023 to take over from CEO Alexandra Altinger, who departed as a part of Perpetual reshuffle, which saw regional asset management leadership moved to a global committee.
In its full-year results last month, Perpetual noted JOHCM had been responsible for the majority of its asset management outflows this year.
The asset manager saw total net outflows of $16.2 billion during the year, with $7.7 billion of this occurring at JOHCM, particularly from its International Select and Global Select funds.
J O Hambro is a UK fund manager set up in 1993 as an active global equity manager and was acquired by Perpetual as part of the Pendal acquisition in 2023.
In light of the outflows, Perpetual said it would like to see JOHCM possess a strong brand with global reach; new capabilities; a range of product structures that can be expanded across Europe, UK, Africa, and the US; and a range of seeded investment capabilities that can grow over time.
During the last financial year, it already reset the distribution approach with a move from regional to international leadership, closed three investment strategies, and launched a targeted campaign for certain funds.
It stated: “We have accelerated our plans to revitalise J O Hambro as part of our new asset management strategy which includes product rationalisation and reinvesting funds in the business to support longer term growth.
Importantly, the business remains a highly regarded investment firm in Europe and the UK with high-quality investment talent, and we are focused on returning the boutique to growth over time.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
Outflows of US$1.4 billion from its US equity funds have contributed to GQG Partners reporting its highest monthly outflows for 2025 in August.
Domestic equity managers are lagging the ASX 200 in the first half of the year, according to S&P, with almost three-quarters of Australian equity funds underperforming over the six-month period.
ETFs saw almost $5 billion of inflows during August, with international equities gaining double those of fixed income funds, as total assets close in on $300 billion.
GSFM has formed a distribution partnership with Auscap Asset Management to distribute its equities funds in Australia and New Zealand, its 10th distribution partner.
