Columbia Threadneedle Investments is farewelling four staff from its £7.4bn UK real estate team, including team head John Willcock, who retires at the end of the year after 26 years with the firm.
Willcock’s colleague, Chris Morrogh, who runs the institutional Threadneedle Property Unit Trust, will retire in February 2021 after 29 years at the firm.
Joseph Vullo will takeover as head of UK real estate and James Rigg will become CIO for the team.
Retail and institutional property funds have faced a tough six months as material uncertainty over valuations related to Covid-19 led to a raft of suspensions.
In June, M&G Investments announced the departure of Fiona Rowley, who had been a co-manager on the M&G Property Portfolio, which has been suspended since December 2019 because it did not have enough liquidity to meet redemptions.
Gerry Frewin, who manages the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment Fund, which only reopened last week following its Covid-19 suspension, will become head of retail for UK real estate. James Coke and Robin Jones take up the equivalent positions on the institutional side.
Furthermore, fund managers Nathan Hargreaves and Sandy Wilson have resigned from Columbia Threadneedle “to pursue different career and lifestyle plans”, a press release announcing the changes said.
Columbia Threadneedle chief executive for Emea Nick Ring said the leadership changes were the result of long-term succession planning.
“We firmly believe in the importance of real estate as part of a diversified investment portfolio, due to its ability to provide diversification benefits and a strong income component,” Ring said.
Morrogh will be replaced on the Threadneedle Property Unit Trust by Coke at the start of 2021.
Hargreaves will be replaced on the TPEN Pooled Property fund by Jones, who will also replace Wilson on the Carbon Neutral fund, along with James Coke and the wider team. “As members of the team step up, we will be recruiting to add new talent,” a Columbia Threadneedle spokesperson said.
See also: Is Covid prompting a career rethink for fund managers?
