Foord Asset Management didn’t stay for very long in Zurich. The company's bureau chief has already found a new job at a competitor, information obtained by finews.com revealed.
The sheer size of Swiss wealth management and the amount of money available is attracting asset managers from far away, typically setting up shop in Zurich or Geneva. This was the case with Foord Asset Management, a South-African firm that opened a representation in Zurich at the beginning of 2016.
One-and-a-half years later, the company decided to pull out again. The bureau in Zurich will be shut, sources told finews.com.
Bureau Chief Moves On
The asset manager struggled with the shift of ever more money into exchange traded funds (ETFs). And Foord’s funds didn’t take the market by storm due to their performance, the sources also said.
Benjamin Huegli, the local head of office, has already moved on. He signed a contract with Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) and started in his new role at the beginning of the month.
OMGI: Steady Expansion
OMGI is the asset-management division of Old Mutual, a U.K.-based wealth manager, which in turn has roots in South Africa. The company opened an office in Zurich in June 2015. Dominik Issler so far managed the bureau on his own.
Huegli was appointed deputy for Issler and is responsible for sales in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Before taking the job at Foord, Huegli had worked for Credit Suisse.
OMGI was founded in 2012 and since has steadily expanded its presence in Europe. The asset manager had 41.5 billion euros in assets under management by the end of June 2017. European clients (excluding U.K. customers) own 6.3 billion euros of the total.
