Schroder gets product focused

Nicola Ralston, Schroder Investment Management's London-based head of investment management, was in Hong Kong this week to explain to Hong Kong staff how a number of new hires at headquarters are designed to make the firm operate more smoothly as a global network.

Schroders, which has $217 billion of funds under management worldwide ($30 billion of which is invested in Asian securities), has begun seriously grappling with the implications of adding an emphasis on product alongside an existing investment style that is dominated by country analysis. It is now reviewing its entire product range with an eye to determine any gaps or duplications. "There is no plan to become a centralized business but we need a global product strategy," says Ralston.

The catalyst for the review was the sale of Schroder's investment banking business to Salomon Smith Barney, which was announced in January and completed in May. That deal left Schroders to concentrate fully on asset management. Ralston says, however, the firm had already been heading in a direction of thinking about sectors and product; her role of global investment management head was created for her 18 months ago.

Now she is moving into action: last week she promoted David Gasparro, Schroder's head of investment strategy in London, to a new role as head of retail investment. That follows last month's hiring of Susan Haroun as head of institutional investment from UBS Brinson, where she had run their European investments. She intends to announce a new head of private banking in London soon.