I am sure there would have been a clause in his employment...

I am sure there would have been a clause in his employment contract of not returning to the industry in a competing capacity for a certain period of time - usually 12 months. After he has sat out his "gardening leave" I expect to see him come back with his own fund. Geoff has never spoken much about shareholders in his private management company, so I presume he still holds the lions share. Chris might have seen this as a bit of a road block to his career, and made the move while he is still young enough to have a crack in his own right.