Rival swipes more Swip people

SCOTTISH Widows Investment Partnership has lost more senior fund managers after its emerging markets team was raided by Edinburgh rival Martin Currie.

The exit of Kim Catechis, head of global emerging market equities, and Alastair Reynolds, global emerging market equities investment director, follows Swip's loss of key figures last year.

The duo will join Martin Currie later this year as part of its emerging markets team, with Catechis taking on the new role of head of global emerging markets.

Willie Watt, chief executive at Martin Currie, said: "Emerging markets are now a mainstream asset class and it is our intention to build a world-class offering to help our clients achieve their investment goals. They are highly rated by the market and enjoy strong institutional support from clients all around the world."

Swip is also losing its head of global developed markets, Ian Vose, to an undisclosed rival in London. It said it was recruiting managers to fill the void, being filled meantime by the remaining emerging markets team.

Dean Buckley, managing director of Swip, commented: "Our clients can be very confident that our funds will continue to be managed by a highly talented and well-resourced management team."

The departures are another setback for Swip after a string of defections in recent months, including the loss in September of both chief investment officer for equities, Graham Wood, to Edinburgh Partners, and head of equities, Robert Waugh, to RBS. It also saw four of its fixed income team poached by Alliance Trust, including global head of fixed income Rod Davidson.

Iain Wishart, owner of IFA Wishart Wealth Management in Edinburgh, said investment houses with lower staff turnover may inspire greater confidence in investors.

"In the future, Swip may be better to highlight a team approach to managing investor's money and save itself the constant outlay on new colour brochures and fund fact sheets," said Wishart.