Platinum appoints CEO; restructures board

Platinum Asset Manager has appointed a new chief executive to replace Andrew Clifford in a bid to stem outflows and shore up its stock price.

In an ASX announcement, the fund manager said Jeff Peters would take up the role once his working visa is granted and that Clifford will remain as co-chief investment officer.

Based in Boston, Peters served ten years as head of global institutional business at Columbia Threadneedle and eight years at Putnam Investments as head of international business.

Before this, he ran the asset management practice at McKinsey.

The incoming chief executive already has links with Australia.

He currently advises Curagaia - a firm that uses natural capital tools and products to affect widespread system change in areas such as gold mining and estuary remediation.

"Mr Peters' experience and leadership will be vital as Platinum focuses on delivering strong investment outcomes and profit growth," Platinum said in the release.

Peters said he had long respected Platinum through earlier dealings with Australia.

"Platinum has excellent foundations and an admired culture built on the back of a differentiated investment approach and strong client focus," he said.

"I'm keen to work with the team to see the company through its next growth phase."

Also, Clifford, Elizabeth Norman and Andrew Stannard will step down from the board but remain in their respective roles.

The asset manager noted that the board structure had previously been driven by Clifford's dual CEO and CIO roles.

"Now that these roles have been separated, it is appropriate to restructure the board's composition so that it aligns more closely to that of other listed companies in Australia."