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Neither Henderson or Yates gave a reason for the departure, although is was revealed that head of equities Andrew Formica has already been lined up to take over the role when Yates formally stands down in November.

In a statement this morning (28 August), Yates said: "I will be stepping down as chief executive effective November this year. Henderson is a strong and successful independent fund management business and it has been a great privilege to lead this business over the past nine years.

"I am pleased to announce the Board has chosen as my successor Andrew Formica, currently head of equities. Having worked with Andrew for a number of years, I know he is the right person to take Henderson forward."

The comments came as Henderson published its interim results, in which it confirmed proposals for the group to be incorporated in Jersey and tax-resident in the Republic of Ireland.

Yates said the company would write to shareholders shortly regarding the proposals to change the corporate structure.

He explained: "As our business becomes increasingly global, we have concluded that the Group and its shareholders would be better served by having an international holding company with a group structure that is designed to help protect the group's taxation position and better facilitate its financial management."

The fund manager reported pre-tax profits for the first half of the year had dropped 16 per cent to £50.8m compared to the same period last year. This figure is also less than half the £106.7m recorded for the previous six months.

Meanwhile, assets under management dropped by £6.6bn to £52.6bn. The drop followed Hugh Osmond's investment vehicle Pearl's withdrawal of £4.8bn of management mandates and £3.1bn was wiped away by the declining markets.