M&G’s Somel hands over fund to focus on Global Basics
M&G has replaced Randeep Somel as manager of the M&G Managed Growth fund to allow him to concentrate on the struggling M&G Global Basics fund.
Dave Fishwick is to take over Mr Somel’s responsibilities on the £880m Managed Growth fund. on September 1. The product’s current deputy manager, Craig Moran, is already part of the multi-asset unit headed by Mr Fishwick.
Managed Growth has underperformed its Flexible Investment peer group over the past three years, losing 0.04 per cent compared with a sector average return of 20.46 per cent, according to FE Analytics. Mr Somel has run the portfolio for the past two years.
Meanwhile Global Basics - taken over by Mr Somel when Graham French retired in 2013 after a period of poor performance - has also failed to match peers, in part due to its weightings to commodities and emerging markets.
FE figures show the portfolio has lost 11.6 per cent under Mr Somel’s tenure, compared with a 1.2 per cent return for the IA Global sector over the same period.
The fund’s asset base, which once stood at over £5bn, has continued to shrink to a current level of £2.2bn.
Following the handover on Managed Growth, M&G said the multi-asset portfolio will continue to invest in collective investment schemes, including the group’s retail funds, and retain its focus on equity investment.
“Over time, [Mr Fishwick] will bring the M&G Managed Growth fund in line with M&G’s multi-asset top down investment approach, enabling the fund to benefit from both the stock picking investment approach of M&G’s equity funds and the asset allocation capabilities of M&G’s multi-asset team,” the fund house added in a statement.
