New brooms To sweep clean at Catella’s fixed income funds

Fund management companies have long discussed how to best deal with the so called key-man risk, whether a founder, CEO or a star portfolio manager. In the case of the latter many opt for moving away from a single star fund manager and instead have a more team-focused approach. This all well and good in theory but if a lead portfolio manager is not only good at his or her job of managing money but also charismatic and eloquent they often become the focus on both media and client attention, despite efforts to emphasise a team ethos.

During the summer Catella was thrown in at the deep end with the departure of four portfolio managers from its team, including the oft-quoted hedge fund manager Ulf Strömsten and his colleague Mikael Hanell. The team managed some SEK40bn so ensuring a smooth transition was vital. The ink had hardly dried on the news headlines focusing on the ‘exodus’ when Catella’s hedge fund team hired Martin Jonsson and Anders Wennberg, adding that continuity had been secured by also retaining three existing team members.

The other two departures came from the fixed income team, which also handles the elements of interest-bearing investments in the Catella Hedgefund. Replacements were announced in August with Thomas Elofsson and Stefan Wigstrand joining on September 5 from Skandia, replacing Magnus Nilsson and Fredrik Tauson.

How do the new recruits envisage making their mark while ensuring continuity?

Elofsson and Wigstrand were interviewed before their official start date so would not comment on portfolio specifics but said that transition is expected to be smooth since they will be working alongside existing managers. Both also insisted they left Skandia in order to take on new challenges rather than because of any misgivings about the company or their roles.