Axa Investment Managers’ star manager Julian Thompson has handed over his AXA Framlington Emerging Markets fund to two rising stars at the business.
Mr Thompson, head of emerging markets at the asset management firm, had managed the fund since December 2010 but has now handed management to Ian Smith and Paul Birchenough.
Mr Smith and Mr Birchenough have been working on the firm’s emerging markets team since 2012 and 2011 respectively.
Axa said the change in manager on the fund reflected its policy of “rewarding talent coming through the ranks”.
Mr Thompson will continue to run the offshore version of the fund, Axa WF Framlington Emerging Markets, as well as segregated mandates.
Under Mr Thompson’s management, the onshore fund had underperformed both its sector and benchmark, losing 8.5 per cent, compared to an average loss of 2.4 per cent for funds in the IA Global Emerging Markets sector, according to data from FE Analytics.
Meanwhile, Axa IM has hired Alex Khosla as an emerging markets equities analyst from UBS Investment Bank.
UPDATE: This version updates earlier reporting to show that the management change decision was executed by Mr Thompson himself.
