Legal & General Investment Management CIO Departs

The $1.27 trillion asset manager has tapped deputy CIO Sonja Laud to succeed Anton Eser as chief investment officer.

Anton Eser, soon-to-be former CIO of Legal & General. (Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg)

Anton Eser, soon-to-be former CIO of Legal & General.

(Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg)

Anton Eser, chief investment officer of Legal & General Group’s £1 trillion ($1.27 trillion) asset management business, is departing after 13 years at the firm.

Eser —who ascended to the CIO role in 2017 after serving as the firm’s co-head of global fixed income — is stepping down and “returning to South Africa for family reasons,” according to an emailed statement Tuesday from Legal & General Investment Management. “He has also acknowledged his desire to return to a more hands-on investing role with a particular focus on ESG and impact investing in Africa,” the firm stated.

LGIM has appointed deputy CIO Sonja Laud to replace Eser as chief investment officer, pending regulatory approvals. Laud, who joined LGIM in January from Fidelity International, has more than 17 years of experience in the asset management industry, including working as a global macro fund manager and an asset allocation specialist, according to the firm’s statement.

LGIM said that Laud “has been working closely with Anton during this time” on the new management structure of the investment team.

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The change in CIO accompanies another major leadership change for Legal & General Investment Management, which in February announced the appointment of Michelle Scrimgeour as its chief executive officer.

At the time of the announcement, LGIM said Scrimgeour would work with her predecessor Mark Zinkula to ensure a “comprehensive handover” ahead of his planned retirement in August.

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