F&C Asset Management's head of UK retail multi-manager Dean Cheeseman and fund manager Oliver Sonnbichler will leave the firm.

The outgoing pair leave 'by mutual consent' and will depart following a hand-over period, with no timeline specified, following the completed acquisition of Thames River Capital.

The news means Thames River multi-manager experts Gary Potter and Rob Burdett will take over the complete range of F&C multi-manager funds.

The F&C multi-manager range will be migrated to Thames River Multi-Capital by the end of the year, positioning Thames River as the single retail multi-manager platform for the group and one of the largest multi-manager offerings in the industry.

Questions surrounding the future of the F&C managers were raised earlier this year over possible duplication of the two multi-manager teams' roles.

Managers Burdett and Potter have co-managed multi-manager funds together since the mid-nineties at a number of firms, before setting up Thames River Multi-Capital in 2007.

Fund manager Paul Carne and analyst Catherine Sauer will  join the Thames River team. The firm said its Lifestyle range will be managed by Carne as a separate range.

The F&C MultiManager Balanced, F&C MultiManager Cautious, F&C MultiManager Distribution, and F&C MultiManager Growth funds will all move to Thames River Multi-Capital management.

The £53.6 million acquisition of Thames River completed earlier this week.