JARDINE Fleming Unit Trusts took on board its new chief executive Tim McCarthy yesterday to tackle the group's administration problems and expand its retail fund business.
Mr McCarthy was head-hunted from arch-rival Fidelity Investments and will also become a board director of parent Jardine Fleming Holdings.
He said the group would look to broaden its investment product range to widen the choices for clients and to include a wider range of client investment profiles.
From 1987 to last month Mr McCarthy was president of Fidelity Investments Advisor and a director of National Financial Services Corp, a Fidelity services group in Boston.
His appointment follows a rocky period for JF Unit Trusts when it was forced to close its doors to new business and limits were placed on unit-holders in funds, because it could not cope with the paper work.
The fund group saw a doubling in its client base from 29,000 to 60,000 unit-holders in six months, after launching new telephone and customer friendly account services in Hong Kong.