One of Canada's largest money managers has said it decided to discontinue using Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) following the recent departure of four of BIAM's investment management team.

RBC Asset Management, a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada, has 48 billion Canadian dollars (€30.9 billion) in assets under management.

It used BIAM (US) Ltd as sub-adviser for its RBC Private EAFE Equity Pool. The bank has a number of sub-advisers looking after different portions of the equity pool and is now seeking a replacement for BIAM.

In September an Australian asset management firm poached the four BIAM executives as part of its plan to establish a new global equities business.

Sydney-based Perpetual Trustees Australia is to establish a business in Dublin that will manage €1.3 billion in assets. The business is to be run by Mr John Nolan and Mr Des Sullivan, both of whom were formerly deputy chief investment officers with BIAM.

They are to work with two other former BIAM executives, Mr John Forde and Mr Richard Kelly.

RBC Asset Management said it was looking for a new sub-adviser for its money management operation. "This decision comes following RBC Asset Management's decision to discontinue its relationship with BIAM (US) Ltd following the recent departure of four senior managers of its investment management team."

A spokeswoman for BIAM said she did not wish to comment specifically on the reason given for RBC's decision.