Roger Guy, head of Gartmore’s European large cap fund management team, has announced he will leave day-to-day fund management.

Guy will continue to manage funds and work with the newly merged European large cap and all-cap teams until May next year. He will then pass his responsibilities over to his replacement, John Bennett. 

The transition will be fully implemented in the new year, and Bennett, who has more than 20 years’ experience of managing European equities and 10 years of managing long-short portfolios, will work alongside analysts Leopold Arminjon, Moni Sternbach and Tomas Pinto.

The European large cap team has so far pulled in £25.9 million of net annual management fees for Gartmore this year.

The European large cap team manages £3.5 billion of assets under management, comprising £1.3 billion in alternative funds, £0.5 billion in mutual funds and £1.7 billion of segregated mandates.

Guy comments: ‘I have greatly enjoyed my 17 years at Gartmore. I respect and have every confidence in John and his whole team to continue delivering value for clients after I leave the business in May 2011.’

Group chief executive Jeffrey Meyer says Guy is leaving to spend more time with his young family and pursue other interests. He admits 2010 has been a difficult year for the company, and the board has now appointed Goldman Sachs to evaluate the strategic options available to the firm, including a possible sale or merger.

Guy’s retirement follows colleague Guillaume Rambourg’s departure, who quit the firm earlier this year after being suspended due to an FSA investigation.

Gartmore also says it will put a cost-cutting programme in place to result in a £10 million annual saving.

In a handful of other changes, Guy’s co-manager Darrel O’Dea will leave the group, along with chief investment officer, Dominic Rossi, who is moving to join Fidelity as global chief investment officer, equities.

Rossi said of his appointment at Fidelity: ‘I am relishing the challenge of taking a leadership role in such a well-regarded firm and contributing to its continuing success.’

Following the trio's departure, some companies have removed certain Gartmore funds from their recommendation lists. For example, Fidelity has removed Gartmore European Selected Opportunities, Gartmore Corporate Bond and Gartmore UK Absolute Return from its 'Select List'.