RAB hedge fund chief Richards steps down

The multimillionaire hedge-fund tycoon who lost his investors a packet betting on the recovery of Northern Rock has stepped down as chief executive of RAB Capital.

The decision to replace Philip Richards, founder of RAB, as the firm's chief executive was immediately seen as an attempt to bring more accountability to RAB's board, which has been dominated by Richards and his co-founder Michael Alen-Buckley.

The replacement of Richards follows a horrendous year for RAB in which its shares have lost two-thirds of their value.

After the firm's high-profile wrong call on Northern Rock, RAB reported a 45% slump in profits in the first six months of 2008 as investors started withdrawing funds. Most recently Richards admitted "a very negative" July performance by its funds following three straight quarters of losses. Richards is to step back and concentrate on running RAB's special situations fund, focused on the oil and mining industries.

RAB's new chief executive is to be Stephen Couttie, who has been the firm's chief operating officer for the last three years. He was previously at insurer Swiss Re and boutique bank Fox-Pitt Kelton.

RAB said the move follows best practice in the hedge-fund industry.