Nearly half of GAM’s board to step down
Three members of troubled fund manager’s seven strong board will not stand for re-election
Almost half of GAM’s board of directors plan to step down at the Swiss fund manager’s annual general meeting next month.
The Zurich-based group said three members of its seven strong board, two of whom have been at the group for three years or less, would not stand for re-election at the meeting in early May.
No reasons were given for their decision. GAM is currently in the middle of a turnround effort following a tumultuous year in which it was rocked by a whistleblowing scandal and the sacking of a star bond trader.
Those standing down are Ezra Field, Monica Mächler and Diego du Monceau.
Mr Field joined GAM’s board in 2016. He is also co-chief investment officer and senior managing director at Roark Capital Group, a private equity firm based in Atlanta.
Ms Mächler joined GAM’s board a year ago. She is also a member of the boards of directors at Zurich Insurance Group and Zurich Insurance Company as well as Cembra Money Bank, a Swiss financial group.
Mr du Monceau has been a member of the board since 2010.
GAM’s three proposed replacements are women who, if elected, would mean more than half of GAM’s new board would be female.
They have put forward Katia Coudray, former chief executive of Syz Asset Management and a Swiss citizen, and Jacqui Irvine, formerly group general counsel and company secretary at Janus Henderson, roles she occupied until last year. Ms Irvine is British. They have also put forward Monika Machon, formerly a senior vice-president and treasurer at AIG and a German and UK citizen.
Chairman Hugh Scott-Barrett, “I would like to thank Diego for his strong support and commitment over the last nine years as well as Ezra and Monica for their active involvement and personal contributions as board members, particularly in the last 12 months.”