Janus Capital says bond chief Gibson Smith to leave in March

By Ross Kerber and Jennifer Ablan

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Janus Capital Group Inc bond chief Gibson Smith will leave in March, and his role will be split among other executives at the Denver asset manager, the company said on Wednesday.

Along with famed investor Bill Gross, who arrived last year, Smith has been Janus' other well-known voice on fixed income and has overseen more assets.

On news of his departure, Janus shares were down 3.3 percent in midday trading at $15.32 on the New York Stock Exchange.

"This is a blow for JNS as Gibson has management responsibilities on 9 funds with total AUM (assets under management) of $30B," Christopher Harris, senior analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, wrote in a report, using Janus' ticker symbol, JNS.

Harris said several of these funds have been among the most successful at Janus of late, including the $13 billion five-star-rated Janus Balanced Fund and the $9 billion five-star-rated Flexible Bond Fund.

Smith is currently fundamental fixed income chief investment officer for the company. In a statement, Janus said Smith "has decided to leave Janus on March 31, 2016, to step back from the business and spend more time with his family." Smith did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Janus also announced several promotions. Darrell Watters will become head of U.S. domestic fundamental fixed income, and Chris Diaz will become head of global fundamental fixed income. Enrique Chang, now chief investment officer for equities and asset allocation, will become head of investments, an expanded role.

Smith joined Janus in January 2001 as a fixed income analyst and became fixed income CIO in January 2006. Over the past 10 years, he built the company's fundamental fixed income team, which now has more than 35 fixed income professionals who manage about $35 billion in assets.

That record led to doubts when Chief Executive Dick Weil brought in the famously outspoken Gross last year from Pimco. Smith, however, said he would stay.

"This is good for the Janus fixed-income business and good for Janus as a whole," he said in an interview.

John Miller, portfolio manager at Ariel Investments in Chicago, Janus' sixth-largest investor with 8.3 million shares on Sept. 30, said the internal appointments show Janus has enough talent to manage without Smith.

The fact Smith will stay until March suggests he is not leaving on bad terms, Miller said. "If someone was disappointed or frustrated, you wouldn't see that," Miller said.

(Reporting By Jennifer Ablan and Ross Kerber; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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