A bad year for Gartmore, the beleaguered London-listed asset manager, took a dramatic turn for the worse today as the firm announced the departure of its star fund manager Roger Guy and the start of a strategic review led by Goldman Sachs that is likely to lead to a sale or merger of the group.
Guy, the manager of the firm’s large-cap European equities funds, has been the instigator and figurehead of Gartmore’s hedge fund business – which has been the chief engine of the group’s growth and profitability over the years, and which now looks to be in disarray.
His departure follows that of his co-manager and long-term business partner Guillaume Rambourg earlier this year, following an internal and FSA inquiry into his dealing activities, and that of other well-known fund managers in recent months including long-time small-caps head Gervais Williams.
Darrell O’Dea, the former Threadneedle European...