Chris Ruffle, Martin Currie’s portfolio manager for China and Taiwan, left the firm at the end of last week, after the UK-listed equity fund manager carried out conflict of interest reviews.  

Ruffle’s responsibility will be replaced internally by Shifeng Ke, who will work with James Chong, investment director for China, and John Pickard, head of investment at Martin Currie, to transition the management of affected portfolios.

“The board of Martin Currie Holdings commissioned reviews into the circumstances surrounding a transaction in an unlisted security that involved a conflict of interest and into aspects of our relevant operations,” Willie Watt, chief executive of Martin Currie, said in a statement. “These reviews have led us to reinforce certain aspects of Martin Currie’s governance structure. Furthermore, in light of recommendations made in those reviews, and following extensive dialogues with Chris Ruffle and with our regulators, Martin Currie has concluded that it must now part ways with Chris Ruffle.”

Ke and Ruffle own Heartland Capital Management, which has said it will buy Martin Currie’s interest in their joint China venture and with it the eight-strong Shanghai-based research team.

As Ke reportedly owns 30 per cent of HCM, it is not unthinkable that he will also leave Martin Currie in November when the purchase is set to take place.

As a result of the upcoming acquisition, Martin Currie wants to rebuild its team and is looking to hire two portfolio managers and a new head of research in the region.

The firm first established a China-focused investment capability in 1994 and opened an office in Shanghai in 1997. Martin Currie and HCM launched their joint venture in the People’s Republic in 2006.