Gartmore fund manager resigns over FSA probe

Gartmore has announced that Guillaume Rambourg, the fund manager it suspended for trading irregularities, has resigned from the firm.

Rambourg, who was only recently reinstated by the firm as an analyst on the European large cap team, was manager of the Gartmore Continental European fund, until his suspension in March.

Gartmore chief executive Jeff Meyer said that Rambourg had concluded that under the current circumstances he was unable to fully contribute to the performance of the business.

'He has, therefore, decided to resign to devote his attention to concluding the FSA investigation into his conduct and to allow Gartmore to put these matters behind it. We respect his decision and wish him well for the future.'

Rambourg said: 'I have taken the very difficult and personal decision to resign from Gartmore after more than 14 years so that I can devote all of my attention to cooperating with the FSA's investigation and regain approved status.'

'I have been faced with a challenging set of circumstances which has resulted in me not being able to optimally fulfil my duties in the best interests of shareholders and investors. I have, therefore, concluded that in the short term at least it is in nobody's interests to continue in my current reduced capacity. It has been a great privilege to deliver performance for clients over the years. I wish all the best to Gartmore.'

Gartmore said the European Large Cap team will continue to be led by Roger Guy, supported by Darrell O'Dea, Leopold Arminjon and Tomas Pinto.

In early morning trading, the fund management company's share price was down 4.63% or 5.1p at 105p. The share price slumped by a third after his initial suspension.