GLOBAL – Larry Smith is to leave his post as chief investment officer at Credit Suisse Asset Management after three years following yet another re-organisation by the company.

CSAM is to adjust its management structure to bring the management of investment performance closer to the actual investment process.

Under the new structure CSAM will have individual heads for each key investment stream – equities, fixed income and alternative investments, instead of a single global chief investment officer.

Jack DiMaio, who was appointed in April, is chief executive officer for alternative investments. Heads for fixed income and equities have yet to be appointed, and Michael Kenneally, CSAM’s chairman and global chief executive officer will be overseeing investment performance for those areas on an interim basis – himself appointed only in March.

Commenting on the new structure, Kenneally said the goals were to “improve accountability, better focus investment strategy, and move managers closer to the investment process”.

CSAM – the fourth largest manager of European pension fund assets - has undergone extensive restructuring over the last six months. In December last year the company announced global organisational changes and in January CSAM Europe re-organised, appointing individual heads of business areas to form the European executive board.

Three weeks ago Swiss bank Credit Suisse announced said that assets under management at the CSAM division fell 5.3 billion dollars, or 1.8%, to 291.7 billion dollars at the end of the first quarter, compared to the end of 2002. The fall was due to market declines and a net 3.8 billion dollar outflow of assets, it said.

Topics