InTech seeks 'new Michael Monaghan', flags fee increase for advisory clients

Skandia’s investment and consulting division, InTech, has decided it needs a general manager to directly replace Michael Monaghan, and has signalled it will bring advisory client remuneration in line with that from implemented clients.

Skandia’s original plan was to replace Monaghan’s general manager of investment & consulting role with a general manager of investments, who would sit on Skandia’s executive manager group but also run InTech’s operations, so that chief investment officer Ron Liling could concentrate on investment matters. However, Liling said a search could not find a suitable executive who was “;willing to get their hands dirty”; with the day-to-day operations, so the operational responsibilities have been split off into a separate role which is close to being filled, while the general manager of investments search has started afresh. Liling said the search for an institutional development executive, who will co-ordinate Leonie Pratt’s wholesale client services team and Chris Galloway’s institutional sales team, was also close to finalisation. An internal promotion is understood to be a strong possibility. Meanwhile, InTech has begun using advisory client contract renewal negotiatons to ask for remuneration increases from these ‘traditional’ clients. Liling said InTech was not the only asset consultant which realised its implemented consulting division could not subsidise the advisory side indefinitely. “;You’re getting $1 million a year from this client, $300,000 from this one, where do you think you’re going to put all your senior people?”; Liling said. He accepted that advisory clients had “;three choices”; as their contracts came up for renewal. “;They can move to our implemented service, they can accept a new remuneration structure, or they can decide to leave us altogether.”;