Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) has ended its search for a head of institutional distribution, electing to collapse the role into that of the existing head of retail distribution.

CSAM had been without a head of institutional sales since the departure of John Maragiannis in March. Both retail and wholesale channels will now be overseen by Craig Mowll, the former Advance distribution head who took over from Brian Thomas at CSAM’s retail helm last June. CSAM managing director, Keith Ince, said the external search (run by recruitment firm Profusion) was called off when it became clear that despite “;several outstanding candidates”;, the internal resources stacked up. “;Craig Mowll’s very structured and disciplined approach has played a major role in enhancing our reputation in the retail market over the past year,”; Ince said. Ince pointed to Mowll’s development of “;very good strategic relationships within the retail market”;, including an upcoming private equity offering to high net worth individuals which will leverage CSAM’s New York-based fund implementation group. Ince rejected widespread rumours that CSAM had been offering a remuneration package that set a new benchmark base for heads of institutional distribution. “;That’s just nonsense – we never had a figure in mind, and as it turned out we didn’t make an offer to anybody external,”; he said. CSAM will staff up with two institutional BDMs to assist Mowll, and is down to a shortlist for positions in both Perth and Sydney.