Tim Haywood, the bond fund manager fired by GAM this week, is to challenge the decision to dismiss him on the grounds he has been “unjustly singled out” for problems at the embattled Swiss investor.

GAM said in its full-year results on February 21 that Haywood had been fired for gross misconduct after an investigation revealed “serious failure to achieve the standard of skill and care which were to be expected of someone in his position”.