Munro will take the reins from interim CEO John Misselbrook in January 2014. Having joined Standard Life in 1995, he climbed the ranks to become global head of multi-asset investing and fixed income, and was the most renowned name behind the £17.8bn retail fund.
The strategy had also come under pressure when three other members of the founding team left to join Invesco Perpetual late last year.
“When the other team members left there was talk that money would walk but this time the concerns are more widespread as Munro built this product and he’s been the driving force behind it,” said Richard Philbin, founder of Harwood Multi-Manager.
“It does make you wonder what’s going on at SLI as we’ve seen several high profile people go. Of course, there is more than four people running this product – there’s a lot of moving parts and people involved in running this fund – but at the end of the day it still needs some direction and guidance from an asset allocation perspective and to lose Munro has to be considered a blow for them.”
Another fund picker, John Husselbee of North Investment Partners, said: “GARS is a totally different machine from what it was before from the original blueprint. A lot more investment has gone into it and a lot more people are involved in it than before. At some point you become more worried about the size of it and whether it can generate the alpha, rather than any of the departures.”
Dan Kemp of Albemarle Street Partners shares these concerns: “It’s an enormous fund, so it’s not the quality of the management it’s the impact of capital flowing out of the fund which will be my biggest concern. It is much easier to manage a growing fund than a shrinking fund. There are concerns about liquidity, and these come to the fore when a fund is selling rather than buying.”
SLI’s replacement for Munro is Guy Stern, promoted to the board as head of multi-asset & macro investing, while the firm stressed that following last year’s departures the GARS team has grown from 25 to 32.
The appointment represents something of a coup for Aviva Investors. Mark Wilson, group chief executive officer of Aviva plc, said: “This is an important appointment for Aviva. Euan’s track record in fixed income and multi-asset management, and his experience in an insurance environment, made him the outstanding candidate to lead Aviva Investors.
“There is significant scope to improve the profitability of Aviva Investors, a core part of the group. Euan will play a pivotal role helping Aviva Investors capitalise on its expertise managing Aviva’s own funds, become a stronger third party manager and increase its contribution to the group.”
