GAM Holding’s suspension of senior manager Tim Haywood, and the announcement that the Zurich-listed asset manager would liquidate the nine bond funds and the CHF7.3bn he oversaw, has been criticised as an overreaction that could spur clients to pull their investments from the firm.

One analyst who covers GAM said the decision to suspend Haywood, and the subsequent freeze on investor redemptions — which caused GAM’s share price to plummet 20% — was a “heavy handed” reaction given the particular breaches the fund manager is said to have committed.