UK equity fund manager Julie Dean is leaving Schroders just over a year after she joined the firm when it bought out Cazenove Capital.
In a statement issued this morning the group said Matt Hudson was taking over the manager’s Schroder UK Opportunities fund and the Luxembourg-based Schroder ISF UK Opportunities fund with immediate effect.
The departure follows that of another member of Cazenove’s business cycle team Chris Rice in June last year, shortly before the deal between Cazenove and Schroders was formalised.
The group said the funds’ investment objectives would not change.
Ms Dean’s Schroder UK Growth fund will be managed on a team basis by the remaining members of the ex-Cazenove business cycle investment team still at Schroders.
Since joining Schroders, Ms Dean has delivered 7.1 per cent on her UK Opportunities fund - half the 14.2 per cent delivered by the FTSE All Share index and below the 15.2 per cent average return from the IMA UK All Companies sector, according to data from FE Analytics.
Schroders’ head of UK intermediary, Robin Stoakley, said: “The business cycle approach is a key investment strategy for us which is why we have appointed Matt Hudson, whose track record is excellent, to manage these funds.”
Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said given the overlap between Schroders and Cazenove it was “surprising there have not been more departures”.
“Ms Dean will certainly be a loss for Schroders as she has built up a strong track record over the years,” he said.
“Mr Hudson, who takes over UK Opportunities fund, is himself developing an encouraging performance record. Perhaps more scrutiny will be focussed on the decision for the investment trust board to keep faith with the Schroders business cycle team, after backing Ms Dean when Mr Buxton left to join Old Mutual.”
