InvestmentsMar 17 2014

New fund management faces to look out for in 2014

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Big names such as Neil Woodford, Richard Buxton and Anthony Bolton have switched roles or are about to depart, but there are also some potentially overlooked changes.

Investment Adviser has listed 10 of the ‘new faces’ of fund management in 2014, some are the obvious big names – such as Mark Barnett who took over Neil Woodford’s funds this month – but we have also included some of the manager switches that have received less airtime.

These include Simon Webber who has taken over the reins from Virginie Maisonneuve on the Schroder Global Alpha Plus and Schroder ISF Global Equity Alpha funds.

Having previously primarily managed the firm’s global climate change mandates, the appointment is a broader remit for him.

Its not just open-ended funds that have seen changes, however, there are two investment trusts on the list with soon to be new managers in April and July this year in the form of Paul Niven at F&C and Dale Nicholls at Fidelity, both of whom are replacing retiring managers.

This revolving door of managers can make it difficult for advisers to keep on top of who is running what, and while many of the replacements have been around for a number of years, for some this step into the spotlight is the first time they have taken on a lead manager role in that style of fund, or it is a significant jump in assets under management.

A key example of where there are concerns about the size of the funds being taken on include Mark Barnett, who now runs the £8.4bn Invesco Perpetual Income and £13.09bn Invesco Perpetual High Income funds.

But surely the proof of the pudding is in the performance of these managers in their new homes?

Some are yet to take on their new mandates, such as Dale Nicholls and Paul Niven. But of the remainder most have produced positive returns in the short time they have been in charge of the new fund, with Diane Sobin at Threadneedle producing the best result with the Threadneedle American Select fund.

She has delivered a 5.85 per cent return between February 1 and March 5 2014, outperforming both the IMA North America sector and the S&P 500 index.

However, while the short-term performance is good, the question remains what these managers will do over the longer term. Stepping into the spotlight can bring rewards in the form of more assets and wider remits, but at the same time it results in increased scrutiny and pressure from advisers.

It will be interesting to see which of the ‘new faces’ rise to the challenge.

Nyree Stewart is features editor at Investment Adviser

NEW FACES OF 2014

Name: Mark Barnett

Replacing: Neil Woodford on £8.4bn Invesco Perpetual Income, £13.09bn High Income funds and Edinburgh Investment Trust

When: March 6 2014 for income portfolios, January 28 2014 for Edinburgh Investment Trust

Joined Invesco Perpetual: 1996

Current funds: IP Income, IP High Income, IP Strategic Income, The Edinburgh Investment Trust, Perpetual Income & Growth Trust, IP Select Trust (UK Equity portfolio), IP Keystone Investment Trust

Assets under management: £24.7bn

Note: This includes £21.5bn from the two income funds last measured in January 2014 under the management of Neil Woodford not Mark Barnett.

Name: Alex Wright

Replacing: Sanjeev Shah on £2.85bn Fidelity Special Situations

When: January 1 2014

Joined Fidelity: 2001

Current funds: Fidelity Special Situations, Fidelity Special Values investment trust and co-manager on Fidelity UK Smaller Companies

Assets under management: AUM: £3.89bn

Performance since taking over: 1.84% (IMA UK All Companies: 2.95%)

Name: Ben Whitmore

Replacing: Tony Nutt on £1.9bn Jupiter Income Trust

When: January 1 2013

Joined Jupiter: 2006

Current funds: Jupiter Income Trust and Jupiter Special Situations

Assets under management: £4.4bn

Performance since taking over: 26.47% (IMA UK Equity Income: 28.73%)

Name: Diane Sobin

Replacing: Cormac Weldon on £2.1bn Threadneedle American Select

When: February 2014

Joined Threadneedle: 2011

Current funds: Threadneedle American Select, Threadneedle American Smaller Companies and Threadneedle US Equity Income Fund.

Assets under management: £2.8bn

Performance since taking over: 5.85% (IMA North America: 3.73%)

Name: Philip Matthews

Replacing: Richard Buxton on the £1.7bn Schroder UK Alpha Plus

When: October 16 2013

Joined Schroders: 2013

Current funds: Schroder UK Alpha Plus

Assets under management: £1.7bn

Performance since taking over: 7.34% (IMA UK All Companies: 8.57%)

Name: James Clunie

Replacing: Philip Gibbs on £251m Jupiter Absolute Return fund

When: September 1 2013

Joined Jupiter: 2013

Current funds: Jupiter Absolute Return

Assets under management: £251m

Performance since taking over: 1.51% (IMA Targeted Absolute Return: 3.59%)

Name: Randeep Somel

Replacing: Graham French on £3.3bn M&G Global Basics

When: November 2013

Joined M&G: 2005

Current funds: M&G Managed Growth and M&G Global Basics

Assets under management: £4.37bn

Performance since taking over: -3.04% (IMA Global: 0.82%)

Name: Simon Webber

Replacing: Virginie Maisonneuve on Schroder Global Alpha Plus and Schroder ISF Global Equity Alpha

When: December 2013

Joined Schroders: 1999

Current funds: Schroder Global Alpha Plus, Schroder ISF Global Equity Alpha, co-manager on Schroder Global Climate Change and Schroder ISF Global Climate Change Equity and part of the global sector team.

Assets under management: £633.1m in the two global equity funds, $21.2bn as part of the global and international equities desk

Performance since taking over: -2.15% (IMA Global: 0.55%)

Name: Dale Nicholls

Replacing: Anthony Bolton on £824.1m Fidelity China Special Situations investment trust

When: April 1 2014

Joined Fidelity: 1996

Current funds: Fidelity Funds - Pacific Fund

Assets under management (once switch takes place): £1.75bn

Name: Paul Niven

Replacing: Jeremy Tigue on £2.6bn Foreign & Colonial investment trust

When: July 1 2014

Joined F&C: 1996

Current funds: F&C Diversified Growth and F&C Managed Growth, and head of multi-asset investment.

Assets under management (once switch takes place): £3.01bn