Peter Foley/Bloomberg NewsMark Fetting, chief of Legg Mason, at the New York Stock Exchange in 2010.
The asset management firm Legg Mason is searching for a new leader after its chairman and chief executive, Mark R. Fetting, decided to step down amid struggles to turn around performance and retain client money.
“The opportunity to lead Legg Mason through a crucial period of its history has been both challenging and fulfilling,” Mr. Fetting said in a statement on Tuesday. “Now is the right time for new leadership to take the baton and continue to move the Company forward into its next phase of growth and development.”
The firm, which manages about $636 billion, said a current director, W. Allen Reed, would become nonexecutive chairman and Joseph A. Sullivan, its global head of distribution, would serve as interim chief as the company searched for a successor.
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Documents: The news release (PDF)
Legg Mason’s clients have been steadily withdrawing money from the firm since the financial crisis, and assets have failed to recover in a meaningful way.
In 2007, the firm’s assets under management broke the trillion dollar mark, placing it in an elite club of managers. But a tough 2008 pummeled the firm’s assets under management as well as its stock price. Now, shares trade at about $25, a quarter of where they were in 2007.
The company said on Tuesday that Mr. Fetting would remain with the company through the year as a consultant.
Article source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/legg-mason-to-replace-c-e-o/?partner=rss&emc=rss