Mouhammed Choukeir has left his position as head of multi-asset class investing in the wealth management division of Morgan Stanley and will take up his new role in mid-October. Beckwith will stay on as CIO until this then after which he will “take time out while looking for a fresh challenge”, according to a spokesperson.
This is the latest in a number of changes the firm has made since the arrival of Sally Tennant as chief executive officer in January this year. These include an office move, the development of its corporate advisory service to entrepreneurs and other senior appointments including Marianne Kafena of Lombard Odier as head of strategic wealth planning and Jeremy Brown and Stephen Campbell from Schroders as a managing director and executive director respectively within the private wealth management business.
At the same time, Tennant has pursued a strategic acquisition policy recently buying Close Offshore Group for £26m, adding £1.6bn assets under management. The firm has also taken on Karrig Strategic Capital to move into the family office space as Kleinwort Benson Private Investment Office.
As CIO, Choukeir will be responsible for all aspects of Kleinwort Benson’s investment proposition, leading a team of analysts as well as portfolio and investment managers. He will be supported by Natalie Merrens, head of products and services, Andrew Thompson, head of advisory portfolio management and Scott Gray, head of fund management.
Choukeir’s previous role was as head of a team running portfolios for clients in Europe, Middle East and Asia. Prior to this he was a fixed income and foreign exchange portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley, joining there in 2002 after spending his early career in the fixed income division of Citigroup’s investment bank in New York, London and Madrid.
