Allan Gray has appointed Ian Liddle as its new Chairman following the untimely death of Simon Marais, who passed away on February 26.

Liddle joined Allan Gray in 2001 as an equity analyst after several years as a management consultant and has held the role of chief investment officer (CIO) since early 2008.

He has been managing a portion of Allan Gray clients’ equity and balanced portfolios since January 2005 when he was appointed as a portfolio manager.

He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder and director of Allan Gray.

“Changes triggered by a tragedy are never welcome but with Simon’s passing we have the sad but important task of filling his role on the Allan Gray board,” said Rob Dower, Chief Operating Officer of Allan Gray.

“Ian is a well-prepared and worthy successor to Simon as Chair and we have high expectations of his and of Andrew’s impact in their new roles. As our investors expect, the Allan Gray group remains very focused on helping clients to make the most of their investments.”

With Liddle’s appointment as Chair, Andrew Lapping has been promoted to Deputy Chief Investment Officer.

Lapping started out at Allan Gray in 2001 as a fixed interest trader before moving to the research team as an equity analyst in February 2003.

He was appointed fixed interest portfolio manager in June 2006 and in February 2008 took on the additional responsibility of managing a portion of Allan Gray clients’ equity and balanced portfolios.

He is a fund manager of the Allan Gray Equity, Balanced, Bond and Money Market Funds and oversees the African equity portfolios.

Lapping is expected to succeed Liddle as CIO in March 2016.

Allan Gray is South Africa’s largest privately owned investment firm, managing $40bn in investor assets.

The firm manages a range of equity, fixed interest and multi-asset portfolios in Africa.