(Bloomberg) -- Investors have withdrawn hundreds of millions of dollars from a GAM Holding AG quantitative trading division as the Swiss asset manager restructures its investment operations, according to people familiar with the matter.
Assets under management at the GAM Systematic unit fell to $120 million at the end of August, down from more than $500 million before the revamp, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The division traces its roots back to Cantab Capital Partners, a hedge fund manager GAM acquired in 2016.
GAM informed investors on Aug. 6 that Chris Longworth, who has led GAM Systematic since last year, had decided to leave along with some members of his team as part of an ongoing restructuring of the unit, according to an email seen by Bloomberg News. Departures also include those of Paul Cole, chief operating officer for the unit’s alternatives business, and Wanpin Zhuang, head of trading for the division, some of the people said.
The staff exits are the latest trouble confronting the Zurich-based group, which has suffered years of declining assets and is now seeking to rebuild after a takeover by an investor group led by French billionaire Xavier Niel. The firm, which has 19 billion Swiss francs ($22.5 billion) in total assets under management, has been looking to diversify its product offerings as part of an updated strategy.
A spokesman for GAM declined to comment on the size of the withdrawals but said the group lost a large client at the time of the reorganization, which impacted AUM. “We retained the majority of clients” and are actively communicating and servicing them, the spokesman said in an email.
Those exiting the firm either declined to comment or didn’t respond to requests for comment.
GAM Systematic will be renamed GAM Cantab, the firm’s spokesman said. The asset manager has hired Erk Subasi from rival Limmat Capital to run the unit and is planning to launch new strategies.
The asset manager reported losses of 33.2 million Swiss francs in the first half of this year, compared with 22.5 million Swiss francs in the same period a year earlier.
--With assistance from Sam Nagarajan.
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