Henderson Group’s director of European equities, Richard Pease, is leaving the firm with a major fund to join a new asset management venture, Investment Adviser can reveal.
The manager is taking the group’s £1.1bn European Special Situations fund with him and joining Crux Asset Management, a new fund management house.
He is thought to have the ability to take the fund under a deal struck with Henderson at the time it bought out his previous firm, New Star.
Henderson’s James Milne, a co-manager on the Special Situations fund, is also joining Crux.
The departure of Mr Pease represents a blow to City-based asset manager Henderson, which has enjoyed success in recent years thanks in large part to its strong performance in European equities, with the manager playing a leading role.
In a joint statement, Henderson and Crux said they would “work closely together over the next few months to facilitate a seamless transition” and that “clients will be kept updated on timings and progress”.
Mr Pease was one of the original team that defected from Jupiter Asset Management to set up New Star Asset Management with John Duffield in 2001, and he proved to be one of the boutique firm’s most successful fund managers.
When Henderson bought New Star in April 2009, Mr Pease was kept on by the asset manager, becoming its director of European equities.
As well as Special Situations Mr Pease is currently co-manager on the group’s £916m European Growth fund, originally a New Star product, with Simon Rowe. He also lead manages the group’s and co-manages its offshore £58m Horizon European Growth fund.
Mr Rowe has now taken on the sole management of the European Growth fund and the Horizon European Growth fund.
Crux Asset Management was incorporated last year but was authorised by the FCA yesterday.
New firm Crux will be led by by former Thornhill chief operating officer Alistair Reid as chief executive, while Mark Little, formerly at Henderson, will be in charge of distribution and Giles Kidd-May, formerly of Jupiter, will be in charge of marketing.
