Franklin Templeton Investments has confirmed that Dirk de Vlaam, its head of sales and marketing in the Netherlands, is to leave the company to pursue “other opportunities”.

A spokeswoman told IPE the asset manager had put De Vlaam on gardening leave with immediate effect, and that his official employment would terminate on 1 December.

She added that De Vlaam – who could not be contacted by IPE independently – did not want to comment.

De Vlaam has served as head of Franklin Templeton’s four-strong sales team in the Netherlands since 2005.

Previously, he worked at ABN AMRO Private Banking as a product manager for investments, and as an adviser for institutional investors.

Franklin Templeton said it planned to hire another senior member for the team in the near future.