Fund buyers have backed Old Mutual Global Investors’ “strong” succession planning after respected mid and small cap star Ashton Bradbury announced his retirement after 26 years in the industry.
Mr Bradbury, who is 48, ran the group’s UK Mid Cap fund from launch in February 2002 to November 2008, and in that time was the second best-performing fund in the IMA UK All Companies sector, according to data from FE Analytics.
He returned 84.6 per cent compared with the FTSE 250 index’s 30 per cent and the sector average of 2.1 per cent.
The manager stepped back from day-to-day fund management in 2009 to take on the role of head of equities at the group, and passed his UK Mid Cap fund to current manager Richard Watts.
Dan Nickols took on Mr Bradbury’s UK Smaller Companies fund in 2004.
The fact many of the group’s managers have been schooled by Mr Bradbury was welcomed by fund experts.
Gavin Haynes, managing director at Whitechurch Securities, said he had been a keen supporter of Mr Bradbury, and had backed him before his Old Mutual days.
“We have long rated Ashton Bradbury as one of the leading expert investors in mid and small caps,” he said. “Whitechurch invested with him since his days at Hill Samuel.
“He built up a strong process combining top-down views and shrewd stockpicking skills, proving as capable at protecting investors’ money in difficult times as providing growth in a better environment.”
Richard Romer-Lee, managing director of Square Mile Investment Consulting & Research, said Mr Bradbury was one of the “best fund managers of his time”.
“He was humble, too, and pretty good at calling the cycle.”
Scott Spencer, multi-manager at F&C Investments, said he had backed Mr Bradbury when he ran the small-cap fund.
“We do rate him as a manager, and not only has he been a good manager but he has hired and trained up a good team around him,” Mr Spencer said.
He said he thought highly of small-cap manager Dan Nickols and had long backed Luke Kerr, who runs the group’s UK Dynamic Equity fund.
Mr Spencer said Mr Bradbury had helped develop other managers at Old Mutual, meaning succession planning had been taken care of – something both Mr Haynes and Mr Romer-Lee agreed with.
“The succession planning at Old Mutual has been strong,” Mr Haynes said.
“Dan Nickols has been managing the UK Smaller Companies fund for a decade and Richard Watts has been managing the Mid Cap fund since 2009.
“Both have built up strong records in their own right, while recruiting Richard Buxton last year as head of UK equities has ensured they have a highly-regarded replacement to oversee the UK desk.”
Mr Romer-Lee said Mr Bradley had built a “good team which has gone from strength to strength”.
Rob Morgan, an analyst at Charles Stanley Direct said he did not think investors in Old Mutual funds “need have any concerns about his departure” given the “wealth of talent” within the group’s UK equities desk.
Ashton Bradbury’s straight-shooting style should be emulated
Looking at the performance of Mr Bradbury’s funds – and indeed those who have learned their craft from him – the numbers are impressive.
But there was something else Mr Bradbury brought to the industry as well – a touch of honesty.
In press interviews in November 2007, Mr Bradbury said investors should avoid investing in mid-cap equities because he thought they would be especially hit as the equity market collapsed under the weight of the credit crunch.
The manager was right, as from the start of November 2007 to the point at which Mr Bradbury handed his fund to Richard Watts, the FTSE 250 index had shed virtually half its value – falling from more than 6,800 to just over 3,400. This quality is no doubt part of the reason multi-managers and other fund buyers have sung his praises because he told them his honest views on his asset class without any marketing sheen.
It is important for fund managers to be like this so when they are being bullish, investors know to believe them.
