A former senior executive with Oppenheimer Investment Management has reportedly set up his own boutique asset manager after the firm's affiliated mutual funds arm took a hit in the summer's sub-prime stumbles.

Ryan Carr, who was a managing director and portfolio manager for Oppenheimer's small cap growth funds, has launched his own firm called Sparta Asset Management, according to a report in magazine Pensions & Investments. Carr will serve as the new company's chief investment officer. Neil Wilkinson, a former managing director at Oppenheimer, will head the firm as chief executive officer, the report said.