Third Avenue Management LLC said its management committee would lead it going forward, after the investment management company and Chief Executive David Barse mutually agreed to separate.

The news comes after the collapse of the company's junk bond fund last week, which jolted Wall Street and renewed worries about the difficulty of trading securities on the U.S. bond market.

New York-based Third Avenue is a relatively small investment manager with fund assets that totaled $10 billion at the beginning of the year.

Third Avenue's Focused Credit Fund was overwhelmed with heavy losses and surging investor net withdrawals, forcing Barse to abruptly liquidate the fund and block redemptions. This cut the size of the fund to $789 million from nearly $3 billion last year.

The fund's collapse is a blow to the reputation of Third Avenue Founder Marty Whitman, considered the dean of American vulture investing. He hired Barse in 1991 to oversee the firm's operations.

Barse, 53, is also a shareholder in Third Avenue.

Third Avenue had sold a 60 percent stake in the company to asset manager Affiliated Managers Group in 2002, while the remaining 40 percent stayed largely in the hands of the firm's senior executives.

Third Avenue said on Monday the management committee that would now lead the firm includes its President and Chief Investment Officer David Resnick and its Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Vincent Dugan.

The committee also includes General Counsel and Secretary W. James Hall and portfolio managers Matthew Fine and Jason Wolf.

The Wall Street Journal had reported the news first on Sunday.