'There's no exodus' says Swip chief as revamp takes shape

Published on Monday 9 November 2009 20:46

SCOTTISH Widows Investment Partnership chief executive Dean Buckley has unveiled a new structure for the fund manager after dismissing claims that it was unable to retain key staff.

A number of senior managers have quit this year, but Buckley said the overall staff turnover rate was below the industry average.

"The suggestion that we have a high turnover of staff is absolutely wrong," he said. "Our turnover in the last 12 months has been low single digits. Relative to the sector that's actually quite low."

Recent high-profile departures have led to fears of an exodus from the Edinburgh-based group, which manages about 140 billion, mostly on behalf of customers of its parent, Lloyds Banking Group.

A team of fixed-income managers defected to join Dundee-based rival Alliance Trust in August, while head of equities Robert Waugh quit to join RBS in September.

In an interview with The Scotsman, Buckley said Swip had hired staff who have added strength to its operations, particularly in its fixed-income business.

Last week he announced Andrew Tunks had been poached from Old Mutual to head the operation. "We have better capability in fixed-income than we did three months ago," Buckley said.

He added: "In a restructure, people leaving is not always a bad thing. Change at the top of the business is almost a necessary element for success."

A new head of equities – a role Buckley is currently filling – will be hired "as soon as possible, but I'm not going to hire the wrong person", he said.

Yesterday Swip gave the first details of a review of its operating structure, which will see its property and fixed-income business split into independent units. The heads of the new businesses, along with the head of equities, will report directly to the chief executive, with individual financial reports prepared for the first time.

Buckley said he hoped the new structure would "encourage dynamism and entrepreneurialism", admitting that Swip may have previously "lacked a little clarity and focus".

Swip's restructure follows a detailed review headed by Buckley and Abdallah Nauphal, the former managing director at Insight Investment Management, the asset management business of HBOS. The review concluded that Swip should be the "centre of excellence" for asset management at Lloyds.

Insight's third part assets were sold to Bank of New York Mellon in August. The sale has not ended speculation that Swip might still be sold, and some institutional investors have ruled out investing in its funds until its future is settled. Buckley insisted a sale was not on the agenda. "Plan A is that Swip is going to be part of Lloyds Banking Group, and I don't have a plan B," he said.

Most of Swip's business is generated from Lloyds' own customers, but the group is also aiming to increase third party institutional funds. While Buckley said this might require further recruitment to its fixed- income business, he said the property business was "pretty much the finished article".

The group is preparing to launch a new 500 million UK "metro property fund", which will invest in seven UK cities, while a pan-European metro fund is also being planned.