- Push-out Score determined
- After less than a year and a half in the position
- Thanks for Yang
- Suren Rana taking over
(exechange) — Boston, Massachusetts, April 16, 2020 — Guang Yang, chief executive of BrightSphere, leaves — a “mutual separation.” As announced by BrightSphere Investment Group Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Thursday, April 16, 2020, Guang Yang has left his post as chief executive officer at the global asset management company after less than a year and a half in the role, effective April 15, 2020.
Guang Yang’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Suren Rana, most recently Chief Financial Officer of BrightSphere Investment Group Inc.
“Most productive”
BrightSphere did not give an explicit reason for Guang Yang’s departure from the CEO post. John Paulson, the newly appointed Chairman, said: “Suren Rana will be leading the Company as CEO going forward. As we look to grow our assets, we have found that tailored efforts led by our Affiliates directly, rather than centralized efforts, have been the most productive.”
Precise information regarding Guang Yang’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Stepping down”
BrightSphere said: “Guang Yang will be stepping down as CEO, President and Chairman. In addition, the Board elected John Paulson to succeed Mr. Yang as Chairman.”
BrightSphere further said: “On April 15, 2020, BrightSphere Investment Group Inc. (the “Company”) and Guang Yang, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, agreed on a mutual separation of Mr. Yang from his position as President and Chief Executive Officer and as Chairman and a member of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”), each effective immediately.”
Share price decline
The announcement follows a decline in BrightSphere Investment Group Inc.’s share price of 53% since December 2018.
In the position of CEO since 2018
Guang Yang became CEO of the Company in 2018.
Guang Yang has been the Executive Chairman of the Company’s Board since November 2018 and has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of BrightSphere.
Previously, Yang was the Managing Partner of H Plus Capital, a private market investment management firm, which he formed in August 2018 and the Founder and Chairman of Finergy Capital, a Beijing-based private equity fund, since October 2010.
Yang served as the President of HNA Capital US from January 2016 through December 2017 and President of HNA Group Americas from January 2018 through August 2018.
Yang previously spent 15 years as an Executive Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst at Franklin Templeton Investments Global Equities.
He also served as the Chairman for Franklin Templeton China. Prior to joining Franklin Templeton Investments, he worked as a Research Scientist at Harvard Medical School and at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Yang holds a B.S. from the University of Science and Technology of China, a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Australian National University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Yang is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding the management change on a scale of 0 to 10.
Read the full story in the exechange report 16.2020 ($).