OpinionApr 14 2014

‘Mild-mannered’ Bolton finally bids farewell

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
comment-speech

Mr Bolton was dubbed the ‘Quiet Assassin’ by the City press after blocking Michael Green from becoming chairman of ITV in 2003, but he disliked the nickname and it never really suited him.

In his spare time he’s a virtuoso composer of classical music, having even released a CD of choral pieces and written for the Save the Children charity.

He was once described as the “mild-mannered money manager” by the FT – and, having once briefly met him, I can vouch for that.

You don’t always get what you want straight away. John Kenchington

He was one of just a tiny handful of truly contrarian fund managers – which also included Neil Woodford – who opted to avoid the dotcom boom of the late nineties.

However, it wasn’t just that call that saw him turn £10,000 invested in his Special Situations fund in 1979 into £1.47m by the time he first stepped back. He spent many painstaking years examining overlooked smaller companies in search of returns and made various other big sector bets.

In a recent press conference in London marking his final day in the office he voiced disappointment that his return to launch a China fund in 2010 ended in lacklustre results, saying he expected the market to go up in the short term and was wrong.

A lot went on in the four years he ran the China investment trust. Its use of gearing and focus on small companies magnified its exposure to a sharp fall in Chinese markets and he bought some shares that were embroiled in governance scandals, although I’m sure he avoided plenty of disasters too.

For this, he’s taken a lot of flak in editorial and online forums in recent weeks, accused of naivety, experimenting with investors’ money and walking off with the commission, all assisted by the trust’s key promoter Hargreaves Lansdown.

However, not only did the trust actually beat the MSCI China index during the period Mr Bolton ran it, but it delivered a positive return – not a loss, as some seem to imply.

In the past 18 months it has performed well, suggesting some exciting seeds have been sown for his successor Dale Nicholls.

You don’t always get what you want straight away.

I suspect that – in a parallel of the dotcom bust contrarianism – Mr Bolton’s belief that an investment case really does exist for China will be proved right in the end.

But he’s at retirement age and so clearly doesn’t want to spend the next decade working just to secure his own legacy.

He’s generated a vast amount of wealth for many people, helped give the UK fund management industry a good name, and has had the courage of his convictions.

Bravo, and may you have a long and happy retirement.

John Kenchington is editor of Investment Adviser