Two senior executives have resigned from Pioneer Investments following their suspension for acting against the best commercial interests of the firm in seeking to launch a competing business.
Tanguy Le Saout, head of European fixed income, and Ali Chabaane, head of portfolio construction, resigned with immediate effect "in the resolution of (Pioneer's) legal proceedings to protect its business interests,” said a news release by the money manager on Saturday.
Further, Messrs. Le Saout and Chabaane “will consent to the orders of the Dublin High Court that effectively redress any advantage they might have obtained due to their conduct in seeking to launch a competing asset management business.”
The two executives were recently suspended by Pioneer following an internal investigation, which found they had acted against the commercial best interests of the firm. Pioneer added that there had been no negative impact on client assets or accounts, that no other investment professionals were involved and that no regulatory breaches occurred.
“Any actions that violate our corporate values of trust, loyalty and teamwork must be responded to, irrespective of the circumstances,” said Giordano Lombardo, CEO and group chief investment officer of Pioneer Investments, in the release. “We have taken decisive action in this instance in order to protect our commercial best interests and have ensured that no client assets were adversely affected and no compliance breaches took place.”
Cosimo Marasciulo, head of European government bonds, has been appointed head of European fixed income. Declan Murray, global chief of staff for investments, will provide guidance and leadership to the portfolio construction team.
Pioneer has €225.8 billion ($239.1 billion) in assets under management.
