The long-serving chief executive of Kames Capital, Martin Davis, is leaving the business.
Mr Davis has been chief executive for six years and is departing by “mutual agreement”, according to a statement released by the company today (23 September).
Kames' parent company is Aegon Asset Management, which is part of the wider Aegon group.
Aegon Asset Management has a new chief executive, Bas NieuweWeme, who joined the firm in June.
He will take over Mr Davis' responsibilities as head of Aegon Asset Management Europe on an interim basis, while the company’s chief investment officer Stephen Jones will run Kames Capital on an interim basis.
Mr Jones has been an employee of Kames Capital for 19 years and chief investment officer since 2013, a post he will continue to hold while acting up as chief exec.
As chief investment officer Mr Jones is already a board member and sits on many of the committees as Mr Davis did.
Kames stated: "We would like to thank Martin for his contribution to the business during the last six years and wish him every success with his future career."
The fixed income department at Kames Capital has been rocked by a number of high profile departures in recent years.
In August 2017 co-heads of fixed income David Roberts and Phil Milburn quit the firm to join Liontrust.
Their replacements, including Stephen Snowden and David Ennet, quit to join Artemis along with several colleagues in December 2018.
Kames' half year results, published in August, showed outflows of £2.5bn. Total assets under management at the time of the results announcement were £41.8bn.
The results statement said: “In the UK, the departure of a number of fund managers and Brexit uncertainty led to outflows. These impacts more than offset lower expenses and positive markets.”
david.thorpe@ft.com
