The head of institutional business at Tyndall Investment Management has left to take on a wider distribution role at another funds manager, as Suncorp continues to review the future of its asset management subsidiary.

Justin Cowper, who joined Tyndall in late 2007 after institutional sales roles at Principal Global Investors and Colonial First State, is on ‘gardening leave’ for the next three weeks.

He said his new role, with a manager he was unable to disclose until his employment with Tyndall officially ceased, would encompass not only insto relationships but also retail, as well as the wider marketing and public relations effort.

The acting managing director of Tynall IM, Craig Hobart, said Cowper would not be replaced. He said the existing members of the sales team – James Nguyen, Chris Boyd and Melbourne-based Tim Connelly – were “more than capable of stepping up” to fulfil their departed leader’s responsibilities, reporting now directly to him.

Suncorp, the owner of Tyndall, is presently reviewing the future of its asset management strategy, with the sale of Hobart’s unit a distinct possibility.

Nevertheless, Hobart said retail inflows in the last quarter were a record for the manager, and there was a “strong pipeline” of institutional interest. He noted Tyndall’s fixed interest capability, which emphasises liability matching and genuine defensiveness, was proving especially popular with insurance companies which had “de-risked” their statutory fund portfolios during the credit boom.