Gartmore recruits ex-Aberdeen man

One of the four fund managers axed by Aberdeen Asset Management earlier this month has resurfaced at rival Gartmore Investment Management as head of its UK equities desk.

Jon Thornton was among six high-profile redundancies made this month by Aberdeen's 34-year-old chief investment officer Katherine Garrett-Cox within two months of her return from maternity leave. He joins Gartmore at the end of the month.

Mr Thornton, 42, is replacing Andrew Carter, who left Gartmore in August to join Royal London Asset Management as chief investment officer. He will report to Peter Chambers, Gartmore's chief investment officer, and head a 19-strong team responsible for managing £7.8bn of funds.

At Aberdeen he oversaw the flagship Blue Chip UK fund. The fund outperformed the FTSE 350 in seven out of the 11 years since its launch but in the past three years it underperformed the FTSE AllShare by 11 per cent, falling 29 per cent last year.

Mr Chambers said: "Jon's record speaks for itself. His investment style complements that of Gartmore – strong in process, a consistent approach and an understanding of which companies are likely to deliver unexpected earnings growth."

Ms Garrett-Cox culled fund managers and other senior staff earlier this month in a bid to turn around flagging performance at Aberdeen, whose funds fell by 17 per cent last year. Gartmore, which has shared Aberdeen's focus on growth stocks, recently saw its funds ranked 76th among a 77-strong peer group.

Mr Thornton was unavailable for comment.