UK – Senior staff have already left or are set to leave Deutsche Bank’s former UK asset management operation this Friday following its acquisition by Aberdeen Asset Management.

IPE understands that Peter Lees, head of UK equities at DeAM, will leave in two days. Other staff who have left or are about to include chief global strategist Adam Seitchik, equity portfolio selection head Stephen Barrow and equities director Ruth Keattch.

Other departures include fund manager Stephen Hobbs and Peter Westlake, head of UK research. IPE understands that investment director Charles Ekins may also leave.

A spokeswoman for Aberdeen, which bought the division from the German bank for €265m in July, declined to comment. Aberdeen said today that the DeAM buy was due to complete on time on September 30.

It said: “Considerable work has been undertaken jointly with DeAM management since announcement of the transaction and we remain confident of achieving a smooth integration of the DeAM business into the enlarged Aberdeen group.

“We have also received encouraging feedback from the DeAM client base and, while we would not wish to pre-judge the intentions of those clients who have yet to take a decision, we are comfortable that this process is progressing well.”

The company added that assets under management have risen as at August 31 have risen 10% to £28.1bn.
Gross new business for the five months to the end of August totaled £2.8bn – taking the total for the year to date to £5.3bn.

It added it was seeing a “good rate of conversion of new mandate opportunities into actual inflows”. The pipeline remained healthy, it said.

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