Aviva Investors global equities manager Giles Parkinson has jumped ship to Close Brothers Asset Management as funds boss Riitta Hujanen prepares to bow out.
Parkinson (pictured), who ran the Aviva Investors Global Equity Endurance (GEE) fund, has been appointed managing director of global funds at CBAM.
He will take charge of all the funds currently managed by Hujanen, who is leaving CBAM after a decade. Hujanen will remain with the business in the short-term to oversee the handover.
Parkinson leaves Aviva Investors following a period of upheaval at the asset manager.
In June The Mail on Sunday revealed the firm was planning to sack 10 managers from its equities desk in a bid to slash costs. Head of global equities Mikhail Zverev was among the rumoured casualties and reports suggested 10 funds could close from the shake-up.
See also: Aviva Investors ousts 10 managers as it retools equities desk around sustainable funds
Aviva Investors names replacements on Global Equity Endurance
Aviva Investors said Parkinson had “left the business with our best wishes to pursue an external opportunity” and would be replaced by Francois de Bruin and Richard Saldanha on the GEE fund.
A spokesperson noted that Saldanha has 15 years’ experience running global equity strategies and had worked closely with Parkinson over many years, including as a back-up manager on GEE since inception. Meanwhile de Bruin has over a decade of industry experience, including seven years at Aviva.
“Both Richard and Francois fully understand the investment philosophy and process of the GEE strategy and were the natural candidates to take over from Giles,” they said.
CBAM looking to expand fund range
At CBAM Parkinson will also work with the wider fund team, which includes Richard Stroud, Henry Frewer and Katherine Wildey. He will report to CIO Robert Alster.
Alster said: “Giles has significant experience in delivering fund portfolios with excellent performance, and his skills and expertise make him an ideal fit for our team.
“Our funds are extremely important and it remains a strategic imperative to continue to broaden and deepen our fund range. Giles will continue Riitta’s excellent work in developing the growth of our funds team and I am confident that clients and advisers alike will be as excited as we are about Giles’ appointment.”
Parkinson joined Aviva’s fund arm in 2015 from Artemis where he was a junior fund manager. In 2017 he launched the Aviva Investors Global Equity Endurance fund. The £367.9m fund is in the top quartile of the IA Global sector, according to Trustnet, returning 24.4% over one year and 73.6% over three years, while the average fund has returned 17.7% and 49.1% respectively.
