Next week the board of Capital Group [profile] will meet and it's a safe bet that the successor question will be the big topic of discussion after the death of chairman Jim Rothenberg earlier this week. Here are two likely contenders for succeeding Rothenberg at the helm.

Stephen Foley of the Financial Times highlights Tim Armour, a 32-year CapGroup veteran who chairs the management committee, and Rob Lovelace, a management committee member and grandson of CapGroup's founder. The paper seems to put its money on Armour, painting him as "a key deputy to Mr Rothenberg" and reporting that Armour "played a role in Capital's decision, over recent years, to lift some of the secrecy around its operations and engage more with the media."

Morningstar analyst Alec Lucas splits the difference, telling the FT that "Armour has been groomed for Mr Rothenberg's role" and that Lovelace "not only by birth, but by his own accomplishments and leadership — would be a good fit as well."

Both Armour and Lovelace are PMs. Armour serves as chairman and principal executive officer of the Capital Research and Management Company slice of CapGroup, and specializes in investing telecoms and service companies. Lovelace is president of Capital Research and Management Company and specializes in emerging markets. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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