Seven Investment Management has installed a new chief investment officer, the third person to take up the role within the last year.
The discretionary manager announced on Monday that former head of investment at Credit Suisse UK London, Martyn Surguy, would be taking up the post effective immediately.
He replaces interim CIO Ian Jensen-Humphreys who assumed the role in November last year after Chris Darbyshire’s departure.
7IM has had difficulty keeping one person in the role since founding CIO Ros Price stepped down in 2013 to become the group’s chief strategist. She oversaw 7IM’s growth in assets under management to £9bn from when it was launched in 2001.
Upon her retirement in 2015, she was replaced by Darbyshire. He left the firm in tumultuous fashion last year following disagreements over the “strategic direction” of the firm and was replaced by Jensen-Humphreys.
New CIO is ‘a perfect fit’
7IM chief executive Tom Sheridan (pictured) said Surguy’s multi-asset background is “a perfect fit” for the firm and said his previous CIO experience and managing equity portfolio teams would also benefit the group.
In addition to his role at Credit Suisse, Surguy was CIO of Morgan Stanley’s private wealth management division EMEA. He also spent 16 years at Morgan Grenfell which became Deutsche Bank, working as CIO international and head of portfolio management UK.
“Martyn joins an exceptional senior team to take us forward as we begin a new chapter in 7IM’s evolution,” Sheridan said.
Surguy added that he was excited by the prospect of working for a smaller, dedicated team.
“Having spent most of my working life in the wealth management division of large integrated banks, the appeal of working for a smaller dedicated investment manager with a broad investment offering, was huge,” he said. “I am excited to join a company where discretionary wealth management is at its core. I believe that the quality of the investment team is exceptional which, allied to a deep rooted commitment to do things simply and well, gives me great confidence for what we can achieve in the future.”
Restructure
Surguy’s appointment follows a raft of hires for the DFM, most recently Terence Moll who came on board last month as chief strategist.
By far the biggest change at the wealth manager was its absorption of Scottish manager Tcam, which added £1.1bn in assets to the business. Tcam co-chief executive Haig Bathgate was installed as head of portfolio management following the acquisition.
7IM said on Monday that Jensen-Humphreys will resume his job as senior investment manager focusing on derivatives and alternatives for the team’s multi-asset portfolios and co-manager on the 7IM Real Return fund.
Sheridan thanked Jensen-Humphreys for his “excellent stewardship” which gave the team breathing room to conduct a rigorous search for Darbyshire’s replacement. He “remains a huge asset to our senior team,” Sheridan added.
