BT Financial Group (BTFG) is searching for a new head of operations following the resignation of Michael Garrett last week.
Garrett is understood to have gone to Barclays Global Investors (BGI), after BTFG changed the configuration of the executive committee on which Garrett used to sit. General manager and chief investment officer of BTFG, Dirk Morris, said the layer of management under him would now be comprised of those heading the four new money-managing quasi-boutiques (see separate news story) as well as Dean Stockwell, the former head of product who was recently reassigned a ‘chief operations officer’ role. Morris said it had been necessary to have purely operational staff on the executive committee while the merger with Westpac was bedded down, but this no longer suited BT’s culture. “;We’re really sorry to lose Michael but I needed the layer of management under me to be guys who manage money,”; Morris said. BTFG has contracted a headhunter to search for the operations role. BGI was unable to confirm last night what Garrett’s role there would be.
As the US investment landscape is dramatically reshaped by President Donald Trump’s worldview, asset owners need to revisit their approach to maximising returns. Perhaps they need to ensure their US portfolios have sufficient exposure to the rapidly emerging anti-ESG, anti-woke, anti-climate, anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), pro-patriot and American-first investment themes. And they could also consider replicating the stock trading patterns of Republican — and Democrat — members of Congress who may have the ‘inside oil’ when it comes to company announcements.
Russell BakerMarch 11, 2025
