Franklin Templeton head of UK retail Mark Dunn is exiting the business as part of a shake-up of the team following the Legg Mason acquisition.
In his place, Alex Barry (pictured) will become head of UK wholesale, a newly-created role that will consolidate its retail sales and strategic client channels in the UK. Barry had joined Franklin Templeton from his role at Legg Mason in 2020 and been head of UK strategic client group.
At Legg Mason, Barry had been head of UK sales, where he was responsible for UK wholesale and institutional distribution. He had joined from JP Morgan Asset Management, where he worked for nearly 20 years in various sales positions primarily focused on the UK. He started his career in sales at Fidelity International.
Dunn will leave the company after seven years in December. Franklin Templeton said in a statement that it thanked him for his many contributions and wished him well for his future endeavours.
“These changes will further position Franklin Templeton for success and achieve the firm’s ambitious growth plans in the UK,” the company said in a statement.
Fairview Investing director Ben Yearsley said he would expect Dunn to emerge somewhere new in the near future given he has been in the industry a long time. “With any big merger there will be duplication of roles and it often takes time to see who the eventual winners will be,” Yearsley said, noting movement at Franklin Templeton and Legg Mason was not surprising given the high number of senior people still there.
“To be honest with you though, I don’t really care who the head of sales is at any company. I’m more interested in the quality of the fund managers.”
