Deutsche Bank’s investment arm has made substantial cuts to senior staff at its US fixed-income unit, as Chief Executive Officer Stefan Hoops’ shifts focus to growth in other divisions.
(Bloomberg) — Deutsche Bank’s investment arm has made substantial cuts to senior staff at its US fixed-income unit, as Chief Executive Officer Stefan Hoops’ shifts focus to growth in other divisions.
The departures from DWS Group include Head of US Fixed Income Greg Staples, Head of US Investment Grade Credit Tom Farina, Head of US Multi-Asset Strategy Dokyoung Lee and senior portfolio manager for fixed income Rob McCollum, DWS said in a statement Wednesday.
Hoops, who took office at little less than a year ago, plans to channel more investment into DWS’s alternatives business and the passive unit known as Xtrackers, and he has called fixed income a “mature” business where growth is harder to achieve. He has also vowed to cut headcount and trim management layers.
“DWS is grateful for the commitment and leadership Greg, Rob, Tom and Dok have shown over the years. We wish them well in their future endeavors,” a spokesman said by email.
DWS’s active fixed-income unit had 199 billion euros ($220 billion) in assets under management at the end of last year, comprising roughly a quarter of the firm’s total AUM. However, it was also the business suffering the biggest outflows last year as clients pulled 12 billion euros out, or more than half of the 20 billion euros that DWS lost overall.
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“Our recent fixed-income performance has not been to the standard our clients deserve,” Hoops said on a the full-year earnings call in early February, adding he’d be “personally focused” on improving the unit’s offering for institutional clients. “That said, we see great opportunity for growth, especially now that interest rates are rising,” he said.
DWS announced on Tuesday that it had promoted George Catrambone to head of fixed income Americas, and said it will create the role of head of portfolio construction led by Gary Russell. Tom Bouchard will be appointed head of high yield, and Kelly Beam will be appointed head of investment grade credit.
The firm’s headcount last quarter dropped for the first time after expanding for eight consecutive quarters. Hoops has already replaced several top roles including the chief operating officer and the chief investment officer.
(Updates with more details on new appointments in seventh paragraph.)
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