As head of European equities, Botham’s centre of excellence is in Paris so his London-based role is no longer required.
His position as the named manager of the firm’s European equity Oeic will be taken on by Mark Denham, a member of the team since 2003 (Botham joined in 2007), who already works closely with Botham and is well versed in the research and stock selection processes.
Rita Dhut and Philip Parker are respectively managers of the Aviva Investors European Value and Pan European Equity Focus Sicavs, largely for non-UK investors, and they too will be leaving the company.
There is still an ongoing consultation process, stemming from the company’s business review, with the possibility of as many as 160 job losses. A spokesperson confirmed: “This is all that has been confirmed for now and there may be other announcements to follow. Everything else is business as usual.”
This includes keeping two people on in the London office, reporting to Pascal Heurtault, chief investment officer, equities, based in Paris. His team in Paris includes eight fund managers and analysts who run €10bn in various European equity strategies.
