Darbyshire, who became CIO in 2013, has left with immediate effect and placed on gardening leave after fighting back against planned changes within the group, according to 7IM co-founder Justin Urquhart Stewart.
Speaking to Portfolio Adviser, Stewart confirmed Darbyshire had been “let go” from the firm with Ian Jensen-Humphreys named as his replacement.
“It’s a great shame to lose Chris because he’s been great, we’ve had great performance and he has built a great team but if we can’t agree on how we want to go forward then we have to part ways,” Stewart said.
“We sat down and talked about what we wanted to do. We had a set plan about what we are going to do and he did not agree with it,” he added.
A role of chief strategist has been created for Alex Scott, former deputy CIO, to lead asset allocation and portfolio management decisions.
Stewart added: “Reflecting the growth of the business, 7IM have now created a chief strategist role, working alongside the CIO.
“This is about evolution, not revolution – our assets under management have grown to the point where some roles need to be redesigned.”
