Hassan Elmasry, the fund manager in charge of Morgan Stanley's flagship $9bn (€7bn) global brands strategy, is to leave the firm to set up his own investment boutique. Elmasry's colleagues are also in discussions over their future at the firm, according to sources familiar with the situation, throwing doubt over the management of the flagship portfolio.

Elmasry's global strategy, which focuses on companies with established brands, was one of the top-performing in its class last year. It outperformed the MSCI World index by 11 percentage points: the portfolio recorded an investment loss of -31% in dollar terms in 2008, compared with a drop in the global index of -42%, according to Morgan Stanley. Elmasry's team also looks after an $850m American version of the strategy.