Robert Smith Tipped As Morgan Grenfell Asset Head
The 52-year-old from Glasgow is held in high regard by his peers and has been widely tipped to take over from Keith Percy at Morgan Grenfell Asset Management (MGAM), a subsidiary of German banking giant Deutsche Bank.
Hes a highly respected manager, a hugely respected guy in the City, one banking source said of Smith, who has been in his current position since 1989. His career includes four years as head of Charterhouse Development Capital and a period at the Royal Bank of Scotlands corporate finance division.
MGAM is battling to restore confidence both internally and among clients following last months revelations of serious problems in three of its funds and the sacking of former star fund manager Peter Young.
Young is currently under investigation by Britains Serious Fraud Office (SFO). He was sacked by Deutsche Morgan Grenfell for alleged gross misconduct following the discovery of misvaluations of unlisted stocks in the funds he ran.
The fund manager has said he was not guilty of any criminal activity and is being made a scapegoat for failings. As head of the asset management arm Percys position has been the subject of intense speculation since problems at the funds, which originally totalled 1.4 billion ($2.21 billion), first surfaced at the beginning of September.
Trading in the three funds, which were held by around 90,000 retail investors, was temporarily suspended but resumed after Deutsche stepped in with a 180 million cash injection.
British newspaper reports have suggested key MGAM clients oppose any action against Percy while others are said to be threatening to withdraw assets if he stays at its helm.
Other key managers, including Glyn Owen, MGAMs chief investment officer and Mike Wheatley, compliance director for the fund management business are also likely to face scrutiny because of their executive responsibilities.
If Smith is appointed to replace Percy rather than a Deutsche executive from Frankfurt, it will lessen speculation that the asset management arm is earmarked to come under direct control from Germany rather than London.
Deutsche Morgan Grenfell said it could not comment on any possible management changes.