Carnegie Smyth, Etienne de Merlis and Greg Malone return to the business after leaving in September last year to set up their own wealth management company – Squared Investments
Smyth will take up the role of managing director, supported by Paul Lester CBE, the firm’s chairman, while de Merlis will become chief investment officer. Malone returns as head of wealth management.
As a result of the restructuring, Chris Godding, the firm’s current chief investment officer and Gautam Batra, investment strategist at the firm have left, a Signia spokesperson said.
According to Signia, the guiding principle in place at Squared Investments – the alignment of the business with the interests of clients – will “now be replicated at Signia Wealth, following the trio’s decision to re-join the firm”.
The group added that a key focus for Lester will be reinforcing and strengthening the group’s corporate governance structure. To do this, he will look to recruit “senior industry-experienced individuals and non-executives to support the management team”
De Merlis said the firm’s investment philosophy, we will remain focused on understanding in depth the objectives of each of our clients and implementing asset allocation efficiently through a rigorous manager selection process.”
While the business is being restructured, the shareholder structure will remain the same, a spokesperson added.
