A number of senior employees at Columbia Threadneedle are in line for a substantial pay out as the company has bought them out of a partnership they operated to run funds for the company.
Rob Burdett’s announcement at the start of March that he would be leaving Columbia Threadneedle precipitated a shake-up at the company, as the multi-manager fund range Burdett and colleagues had run was brought under the remit of the multi-asset desk.
Burdett and his long-time colleagues Gary Potter, Kelly Prior and Scott Spencer had run the multi-manager range across multiple firms, including Credit Suisse, Thames River Capital, and BMO Asset Management - which was bought by Columbia Threadneedle.
But the company has confirmed to FT Adviser that Burdett, despite running the funds at Columbia Threadneedle, was never employed by the firm.
Instead he worked for a limited liability partnership company and it was this partnership that owned the multi-manager fund range and had also done so at all of the firms mentioned above.
Columbia Threadneedle paid the partnership for managing the funds on its behalf.
On Burdett’s exit from managing the funds, Columbia Threadneedle bought them from the limited liability partnership, taking them in-house.
This could trigger a payout for the partners who, in addition to Burdett, include long-standing Columbia Threadneedle employees Phil Doel, David Logan, and Julian Thomas.
Doel is chief operating officer for investments in the EMEA region and he became a partner in the limited liability company in 2022, the same year Gary Potter retired.
Logan’s role covers compliance and operations and Thomas is head of product at Columbia Threadneedle.
The limited partnership recorded profits of £6.6mn for the year to the end of March 2023, on turnover of £11mn.
That profit number was about £2mn lower than the prior year as the assets under management of the fund range declined.
While £6mn was available for distribution, only £2.2mn was actually distributed.
The accounts covering the period to March 2023 showed the assets under management of the fund range operated by the partnership were £2.1bn.
If the typical market multiple for asset management firms in the current climate is applied -1 per cent of assets under management - that would imply a payout to the partners of around £20mn for 100 per cent of the equity.
Though Columbia Threadneedle is itself a significant shareholder in the partnership, so would only be buying out a portion of that.
A representative of Columbia Threadneedle said the exit of the trio would allow its clients to “benefit from the broader expertise” of its multi-asset team.
For his part, Burdett has made it clear he isn't retiring and wants another role within the industry.
david.thorpe@ft.com
