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A chameleon-style approach to managing funds is not one that Richard Buxton, head of UK equities for Schroders, has adopted.

With four-star Morningstar ratings and handling assets under management of £1.6bn, Mr Buxton obviously took the right decision not to alter his UK Alpha Plus fund in spite of the turbulent financial market.

Mr Buxton said: "You have to adapt your game a little bit, but without going away from what works for you and your firm. It is not a question of adapting our style. We will continue to be just very cautious in terms of adding and building our position and making us money with a three year view, in spite of the bad days in the market."

In topping the pyramid of the equities team, the opera-loving arts fan has also proven that change is not always necessarily for the better.

He said: "If you have to be able to adapt if things are volatile in the short term then perhaps you should not have a greater degree of concentration in portfolios. But what does not change is that we are long-term investors. We are always looking at three years plus time horizon in terms of viewing our research and companies."

Even with this success, deciding on a financial career was not one that Mr Buxton gravitated towards to at first. The Oxford University graduate was in many minds about whether to carry on studying for a doctorate, be a don, a teacher or a writer.

Finally, Mr Buxton decided to head to London to follow his interest of the stock markets and the economy and to seek a job in finance as a taster. In 1985, he took his first step on to the financial ladder with his first role at Brown Shipley Asset Management, where he spent three years in the fixed income and equity teams.

However, the academic in him was not shaken off, so he left and went back to Oxford University to study for a doctorate in English, but he was still mulling over the decision of whether he wanted to pursue an academic career or keep up with his financial ties.

Within a year, however, he could not get finance 'out of his blood' and went back to join Guardian Royal Exchange Asset Management, where he only worked for a year before heading to Baring Asset Management as UK equity manager, where he stayed for 11 years.

Then in 2001, he moved to Schroders and became its head of UK equities two years later.

Mr Buxton explained that one of his main responsibilities is the four-star rated Morningstar and Old Broad Street Research AA-rated Schroder UK Alpha fund. Launched in 2002 - a year after Mr Buxton arrived - it aims to provide capital growth through investment in the UK and other companies, with a concentrated portfolio.

The fund manager went on to explain why it was necessary to take a undiluted strategy. He said: "My view of the launch was that it should focus on best ideas and stocks. The last thing we wanted to do was launch a fund so close to the index, as so many had in the early 1980s and 1990s, where it went up and down, down and up.

"So we just wanted to concentrate on a few shares on an absolute return basis, keeping it concentrated in order to achieve a higher return. Part of our managed money is a combination of being very bottom up, with a stock picking research approach. Also it is very top-down driven, looking at what are the sectors with the best stocks.”

Having manned the fund for the past six years, Mr Buxton believes its consistent approach to investment will work in its favour and put it in good stead, despite the difficult times.

He said: "We are focused where we can make money on the fund horizon, but also accepting that the next six to 12 months are going to continue to be grim.

"We are very much driven by stock-specific research, where we are tested in good times and bad. At a time when share prices are low and people are despondent, it is not a question of having to change our game just to suit climate conditions.

"Throughout the cycle, it is interesting and exciting as there is scope to make great returns, but in the meantime it will be volatile and we just have to ride through that.”

"Where we stand today, I think we are in for a very difficult time economically in the UK in the next 12 months with the full impact of the contraction of the credit available to the consumer and to corporate.

"But at the same time, the stock market has fallen substantially in the past 12 months and a lot of shares represent extraordinarily good value on a three-year view, as the battle rages between downgrades to earning expectations for a lot of stocks."

However, the 44-year-old, who has a focused and determined approach to overcoming challenges, believes that now is the time for opportunity, rather than being seen as an investment cull.

Mr Buxton said: "Anyone investing in these funds, with any equity-based investment, must be made aware that it cannot be a short-term investment. We are looking essentially at five years, with a minimum of three years.

"There are some fantastic opportunities even though times are tough economically. I am enthusiastic about the returns that could be generated for holders, with a three year view.

"Now the market has fallen quite substantially from the peak in 2003, this is not the time to be getting gloomy, even though the macro economy has deteriorated. Instead, it is precisely the time to be investing because the stock market will be pricing this consideration in already, while anticipating a recovery for 2010, and by the 2012 Olympics the economy should be booming."

He pointed out that far more money is now managed on a very short term basis, which followed a knee-jerk reaction in which shares fell much more dramatically in the past few years to therefore push things downwards.

But to counteract the fact that the market is a long way through the credit crunch, Mr Buxton believes there should be a clean up of the banks' balance sheets, which can restart the lending process again.

He said: "The markets are still going to be very volatile in the short-term with slowing down, profit downgrades and profit warnings.

"However, once you can get to a stage where banks are happy to lend to each other once again, or investors are prepared to fund banks in longer term period, rather than just short term money, then that kicks off the whole credit cycle again.

"There will be volatility in the next few months, where more banks will have to raise capital.”

But he added this should not make people despondent or gloomy about the future.

MR Buxton concluded: "In the course of the next couple of years, the current turmoil may redress the balance, even if short selling bans are lifted. Also, the investment bank model has changed so that we have passed the high-water mark goal, in which there is less leverage and less ability to influence short term prices, which can help address the current crisis."

Girlie Garduce is senior features writer of Financial Adviser

Richard Buxton CV

2003-present: Head of UK Equities, Schroders

2001: Joined Schroders

1990: UK equity manager, Baring Asset Management

1989: GRE Asset Management

1985: Fixed income and equity investment manager, Brown Shipley Asset Management