GAM has decided to undertake another reshuffle of its executive committee after posting a loss for 2019. The new team has been given a set of clear financial targets.
Asset manager GAM hasn’t fully recovered from the crisis that followed the closure of funds and a whistle-blowing affair. The company had a loss of 3.5 million Swiss francs ($3.6 million) in 2019, which stands in stark contrast to the loss of 916.8 million francs in the catastrophic year of 2018.
Assets under management declined to 48.4 billion francs from 56.1 billion, but the private labeling assets increased 11 percent to 84.3 billion.
Reshuffling the Management
GAM also cut its costs by 42 million francs and the executive will receive no bonus for the past business year. Chief Executive Peter Sanderson will forego a contractual fixed cash award due this year. The company will not pay a dividend either.
The company, which has its headquarters in Zurich, decided to reorganize the executive board, whereby three members – Tim Rainsford, Rachel Wheeler, and Martin Jufer – will leave the committee and move over to the senior leadership team instead.
The executive will be comprised of:
- Peter Sanderson, chief executive officer
- Richard McNamara, chief financial officer
- Elmar Zumbuehl, chief risk officer
- Steve Rafferty, chief operating officer
The company also proposes Thomas Schneider as a new member of the supervisory board. The ex-Credit Suisse banker currently is chairman of Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank.
New Financial Targets
The new leadership has set itself a number of financial targets to be reached within three years:
- Pretax profit of 100 million francs (compared with 10.5 million in 2019).
- Additional savings of 30 million francs by year-end and another 10 million francs by the end of 2021.
- An operating margin of 30 percent.
Outlook
In 2020, GAM expects the market environment to remain volatile and investors are likely to remain cautious.
