GAM Holding AG has announced the appointment of Albert Saporta as its new Group Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 July 2025. The appointment marks a pivotal leadership change at the Zurich-listed asset manager, as the firm continues its strategic transformation.
Saporta, a veteran of the investment management industry with over 40 years of experience, succeeds Elmar Zumbuehl, who has led the firm since October 2023. Zumbuehl will remain with GAM until the end of 2025 to ensure a smooth transition.
A long-standing figure in global finance, Saporta brings deep expertise to the role. His career began at Paribas in Paris before he moved to Merrill Lynch in London, focusing on Japanese equity sales between 1985 and 1988. He subsequently joined UBS Securities and then IFM, a hedge fund backed by Jacob Rothschild’s St James’s Place and AIG. In 1995, he founded AIM&R, a Geneva-based hedge fund advisory and research firm, which he later sold to ABN Amro Bank in 2006. AIM&R was relaunched in 2011 and continues to serve hedge funds, pension schemes, real estate trading firms, and family offices globally.
Saporta has served as GAM’s Global Head of Investments and Products since October 2023, a role in which he has contributed to the firm’s repositioning as a lean and scalable platform following a challenging period.
“These leadership changes reflect that GAM has successfully transformed and is now well positioned for growth,” the company stated.
GAM has experienced significant restructuring under Zumbuehl’s tenure. Following the collapse of a takeover bid by Liontrust Asset Management in 2023, the firm secured strategic funding support from investor group NewGAMe, including Rock Investment SAS, which committed up to CHF 100 million ($1.09 million) in capital. Zumbuehl subsequently led efforts to streamline GAM’s operations and divest non-core entities.
“On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to express our deepest gratitude to Elmar for his dedicated service and the significant achievements he has accomplished during his many years at GAM,” said Antoine Spillmann, Chairman of the Board. “His leadership has been pivotal in steering the company through transformative changes and setting a solid foundation for future sustainable growth.”
In tandem with the leadership transition, Tim Rainsford will return to GAM as Group Distribution Officer on 1 October. Rainsford was formerly CEO of Generali Investments Partners and most recently served as Chief Product and Distribution Officer at Generali Asset Management. He will oversee distribution efforts, with Rossen Djounov, Global Head of Client Solutions, remaining a key member of the leadership team and reporting directly to Rainsford.
