Peter Harrison will become CEO of Schroders, effective April 4, and current CEO Michael Dobson will become non-executive chairman of the money manager.
Announcing the senior management changes in a conference call Thursday, Mr. Dobson said Mr. Harrison was the board’s “unanimous choice for the position.”
Mr. Harrison is currently head of investment, a position he took on in 2014, and a member of the board. A spokeswoman for Schroders said no further information about replacing Mr. Harrison in his current position is being announced at this time, but that all asset class heads that currently report to Mr. Harrison will continue to report to him in his new role.
Mr. Harrison rejoined Schroders in 2013 as head of equities, having first joined the firm as an equity analyst in 1988.
Mr. Dobson’s appointment as non-executive chairman of the board is also effective April 4. He will replace Andrew Beeson; Mr. Beeson will retire April 4. The board believes the appointment is in the best interests of the company and shareholders, and Mr. Dobson said on the conference call that the decision had been explained to major shareholders in the last few days.
Further, the firm announced that Massimo Tosato, global head of distribution and executive vice chairman, will leave the firm Dec. 31, and will retire as a director of the company. He will work with Mr. Harrison until the end of the year during the transition. Mr. Dobson said Mr. Tosato will pursue other interests. “He has done a superb job of leading our distribution capabilities,” Mr. Dobson said.
Also Thursday, Schroders said assets under management increased 4.5% to £313.5 billion ($464.7 billion) for the year ended Dec. 31. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, assets increased 6.3%.
Net inflows totaled £13 billion for the year, and £4.7 billion for the quarter.
Institutional assets under management grew 5.8% to £181 billion, with net inflows of £8.8 billion over the year. For the three months ended Dec. 31, institutional assets increased 8.2%, with £5.3 billion in net inflows.
