Charles Stanley Group has announced its head of investment management and group board director Gary Teper has resigned, effective from 31 May 2019.
The announcement follows the update on 9 May 2019 in which the stockbroker highlighted its restructuring plan to standardise processes and introduce a simplified organisational structure to support its goal of achieving a 15% net margin.
The update earlier this month said three of Charles Stanley’s senior executives would face a review with a conclusion date for that review of 22 May. Teper, managing director Magnus Wheatley and head of asset management Christopher Aldous, were all said to be at risk.
In an RNS update on Wednesday, chief executive Paul Abberley (pictured) thanked Teper for his support and contribution but made no mention of Wheatley or Aldous.
“The Private Client Investment Management Division has been restructured under his leadership and is now well placed for further growth and success,” Abberley said.
A second departure?
Meanwhile, a source close to the matter told Portfolio Adviser that managing director Magnus Wheatley had also left.
Further to our inquiries, Portfolio Adviser found that Wheatley’s LinkedIn profile no longer lists his role at Charles Stanley as “present” and it appears to have been updated to the end in May 2019.
It reads: “Having begun my career as Head of Press & Public Relations at Charles Stanley, in 2016, I took over the Charles Stanley Direct proposition and reversed its fortunes, taking it through £2bn of assets to£2.7bn and making it profitable after years of under-performance.
“I oversaw the launch of the trading App and handled all digital marketing. Most pleasingly, I created a very strong team who had the highest company scores for engagement and people management is very much my strongpoint. In 2017 I was appointed to the Executive Committee.”
Portfolio Adviser reached out to Charles Stanley to confirm the news, but a spokesperson said: “There is no further update and the formal consultation process is still ongoing.”
Cost-cutting exercise
Ben Yearsley, director at Shore Financial Planning, said the axing of employees is more of a “cost-cutting” exercise rather than a move to raise the operating margin.
“Stockbroker firms generally have been trying to modernise over the last 10 years and some have been more successful at it than others. You could say that Charles Stanley is probably still going through a transition and is not as profitable as it should be.
“The firm has been trying to sort out its profitability for a number of years – and you’d arguably say they still haven’t got there. The assets under management are weak and share price is weak as well, so obviously they were looking at revamping and reinvigorating.”
Elsewhere, group chairman, David Howard, commented, “I would like to express my thanks to Gary for all he has done for Charles Stanley over many years. Since joining as Legal Counsel he has undertaken a number of different roles within the group diligently and extremely effectively.”
