Mark Williamson, former head of Denver-based Invesco Funds Group, will step down as chief executive of AIM Investments, a U.S. asset-management unit of Amvescap Plc, for personal reasons.
Williamson, 53, has led AIM since January 2003, a period in which investors pulled billions of dollars as the company struggled with poor investment performance and regulatory sanctions for permitting improper trading in its mutual funds. He will help choose his successor, David Bachert, a spokesman for Houston-based AIM, said Wednesday.
Under Williamson, AIM absorbed Amvescap’s Invesco Funds unit, which he headed from 1998 to 2001. He was president of Amvescap’s managed- products division, which comprised its North American retail group, from 2001 to 2003.
Williamson “reached the decision to spend more time with his family and pursue personal interests,” Bachert said. Williamson spelled out his decision in a letter Friday to Amvescap chief Charles Brady.
Brady, 69, is planning to step aside this summer after 25 years at the helm of London-based Amvescap and its predecessors. Amvescap is looking for a candidate from outside the company to fill the CEO post.
A search for Williamson’s position will start after Brady’s successor is chosen.
