F&C Asset Management has made a number of changes in personnel as it completes its acquisition of Thames River Capital, which will now handle F&C’s multi-manager funds business.

The combined group will see Thames River focus on distribution to IFAs and wealth managers, whilst F&C will concentrate on institutional distribution.

Charlie Porter, founder and chief executive of Thames River, will join the F&C executive committee, responsible for the group’s retail and wholesale fund business. Jeremy Charles, who will continue as chief operating officer of Thames River, will join the executive committee with the responsibility of implementing changes to the enlarged group’s business model, having the objective of creating greater flexibility in its cost structure and improving overall efficiency.

Charles will report to Alain Grisay, F&C’s chief executive. Prior to joining Thames River in 2007, Charles worked as COO at Coutts, Natwest, James Capel, UBS and Hoare Govett.

The acquisition will also see F&C’s multi-manager funds business migrate to Thames River Multi Capital, which will become the single retail multi-manager platform for the entire F&C group. This is expected to take place by the end of the year, subject to FSA and fund shareholder approvals.

This fund of funds boutique will be led by Robert Burdett and Gary Potter, who have both co-managed multi-manager funds together since the mid-nineties, initially at Rothschild Asset Management and then at Credit Suisse Asset Management before setting up Thames River Multi-Capital in 2007.

Additionally, Thames River Capital has hired fund manager Paul Carne and analyst Catherine Sauer from the F&C multi-manager team.

Meanwhile, F&C’s Lifestyle fund range, which provides intermediaries with an investment process that follows four core asset allocation models generated by Distribution Technology’s Dynamic Planner tool, will remain a separate and distinctive product suite. The selection of underlying funds within each of the Lifestyle portfolios will be undertaken by F&C, which will leverage the research resources of Thames River Multi-Capital. Carne has been given responsibility for the ongoing management of the funds.

“The acquisition of Thames River is an important component of our strategy of diversifying our revenues beyond our core insurance clients. In particular, Thames River brings a highly complementary set of investment capabilities, including expertise in absolute return, and a proven record of distribution among wealth managers where our presence has been limited,” said Grisay in a statement. 

F&C’s half-year results reported assets under management for the firm as £95.3 billion (around $146.8 billion) at the end of June, up from £88.3 billion in June 2009.