Craig Hobart will resign from Tyndall Investment Management on April 1 and will be replaced as managing director of the $22 billion asset manager by Mike Davis.

Hobart is leaving Tyndall after two years in which he oversaw the sale of the asset-management business to Nikko Asset Management and its integration into the Tokyo-based company. He is resigning to take his family on a three-month trip around Australia in a car and caravan.

“I’m keen to come back into the industry. It’s not easy to step away,” says Hobart. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about awhile. It’s a hard decision. It’s the right decision. I’ve spoken to a lot of people.”

He was convinced of the correctness of his resignation from Tyndall when earlier this month his two sons, the eldest playing guitar, came and sang a song they had composed for him about their planned trip.

“I’ll be home-schooling my children,” says Hobart.

His replacement, Davis, has worked in the bond sales and trading unit of Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch’s debt capital markets business. He co-founded Maple Financial Group, now Causeway Asset Management, which invests in private debt and has a water fund.

Charles Beazley, Nikko’s incoming chief executive, says Davis will help “win new mandates.”

“Mike will be pivotal in helping Tyndall grow its business even further,” says Beazley in a statement.

Davis did not return a call seeking comment.