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Mr Anderson started working for Cru in spring 2006, when the company became a client of his fund marketing business. He was later appointed sales director and became chief executive last April.

Cru runs five UK Oeics - whose investment management is outsourced to Arch Financial Products - and the Africa Invest fund, which invests in the agriculture and food-produce sector throughout the continent. In addition to this, Cru also funds community development projects in Africa.

Mr Anderson said: “When I joined Cru, my remit was to build their funds and develop the business for flotation in 2012-13. We were extremely successful as a business, but got distracted.”

The distraction, according to Mr Anderson, has been Cru chairman Jon Maguire's "very strong focus" on sub-Saharan Africa.

"I admire what he is doing, but it is not what I meant by my remit, and it is not my passion," Mr Anderson said. "I do not feel it is part of what Cru is about. It made it very difficult for Jon and myself to act as chair and chief executive, but I wish Jon every success.”

Mr Anderson ran his marketing business for two years before his involvement with Cru. Before that, he was HR director of a regional IFA firm.

He said that since he had left Cru, a number of fund management companies had contacted him.

He said: “I am sure I will link up with someone else to bring something new to the UK market.”

Regarding Mr Anderson's departure, Mr Maguire said: “We did not want Stuart to go. I am passionate about Africa and seeing how business enterprise and investment can work in fixing the continent’s problems. But if you hold these things dear and other people do not, it is untenable."

Meanwhile, Cru plans to launch a private finance Oeic this October and an African agriculture fund in the first quarter of 2009.