GAM's shares have plummeted since the Swiss asset manager was forced to liquidate its flagship line of bond funds nearly six months ago. Now at least a ray of hope for clients is emerging.
The Zurich-based asset manager froze more than $7 billion last August after it suspended star fund manager Tim Haywood. Since then, GAM has scurried to liquidate investments in a total of nine funds in order to make good on client withdrawal requests.
Clients are poised to receive at least 98 percent of their funds invested in the absolute return bond funds back, «Bloomberg» reported, citing sources. Haywood was suspended after his long-time co-manager blew the whistle, as finews.com reported in September. More than one year after the investigation was opened, he remains neither accused of nor disciplined for anything.
Ongoing Wind-Down
GAM maintained that the liquidation under Jack Flaherty and Alex McKnight, the investment director who took over Haywood's bond portfolio, is still ongoing. Last month, crisis CEO David Jacob flagged the end of the liquidation and conclusion of redemptions for the first quarter.
Whether the asset manager will survive as an independent firm following the crisis is unclear. A raft of executives including CEO Alex Friedman and top regulatory watchdog Nathalie Baylis have exited, and GAM has suspended dividend payouts after warning of a hefty loss last month.
