Multi-managerFeb 16 2015

‘It’s a job that’s given me a huge amount of variety’

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A degree in business administration from the University of Plymouth set him on the right path.

“My route involved joining a local asset management firm where I was brought up – in Chichester,” he explains.

“I joined a company called Thesis Asset Management, which was headquartered in Chichester. I managed to get a job as a portfolio assistant and I did about five years with Thesis.”

During his time there, Mr Gent worked his way up from portfolio assistant to investment manager and secured his professional qualifications along the way. He also relocated several times, moving to London and then to the Guildford office.

He recalls: “That was a great time and it taught me a huge amount about portfolio management because you are buying direct equities, direct bonds and buying funds. Effectively, you are managing clients’ assets in a discretionary format and that led me to wanting to move into sales.”

Mr Gent suggests that his move into sales was largely driven by the feeling that he could “make a difference” when it came to providing a service to clients, having managed portfolios on their behalf before.

“I think it was a natural process in the sense that I’d had exposure to lots of different sales people from other fund houses,” he notes. “So I’d seen fund management companies and the way they approached promoting strategies to the marketplace.

“I think one of the things that I’d learnt fairly quickly was that just because I’d had experiences of private wealth manager clients, not all clients operate that way, so you can’t approach every client the same way.”

He points out that whether he is dealing with a private bank, a dedicated analyst or a financial adviser, no two clients have the same objectives.

“All clients are looking for something slightly different, and I think you need to be open-minded enough to be aware of that and make sure you’re serving each client in terms of their own needs and what they’re looking for.”

Henderson Global Investors offered Mr Gent his first sales position and he spent two years there before being recommended to Legg Mason, which he joined in 2007. He was made head of UK sales in 2010 and has held the role ever since.

He recalls: “I think what attracted me to my initial role within Legg Mason was the fact I felt to some degree that [the company] had a big brand and it had some very strong capabilities, but I think those capabilities were only in certain areas. So it was an opportunity to develop Legg Mason’s exposure within the UK market.”

He cites fixed income as an example of an asset class that the organisation was not well known for operating in at the time he joined.

“In fact, looking back I think we had less than 10 per cent of our assets from a UK perspective in fixed income,” he says.

“Fixed income now accounts for around 55 per cent of our asset base within the UK market. And given Legg Mason’s structure, by assets globally the largest part of Legg Mason is our fixed income capability, with Western Asset [Management] and Brandywine Global.”

He continues: “So what attracted me back in 2007? I think it was a combination of the multi-affiliate model, where Legg Mason was from a UK market perspective back in 2007, and the fact there was a lot of scope to develop a business, not just in a couple of areas but across a much broader asset-class perspective.”

Mr Gent’s ambitions for the company expanded when he was made head of UK sales a few years ago. At that time Legg Mason’s strategies were best known among the private banking sector, among fund of funds, large private wealth management groups and the “top-end” discretionary clients.

What he set out to do was to develop the company’s exposure to the wider advisory market.

“We took on what we classed as a whole of market approach,” he explains. “This was something we did about two years ago, whereby our sales directors would cover every client within their given area, regardless of whether they were discretionary or advisory.

“That’s been something that has worked well for us in terms of the support we’ve been getting from different parts of the market.

“I’d also couple that with the fact that one of the big issues we had two-and-a-half years ago was that many of our offshore funds weren’t available on all of the big platforms, and platforms obviously drive more than 50 per cent of the flow within the UK market.”

While the funds were not accessible on some of the most popular platforms, Legg Mason was unable to attract assets from potentially 50 per cent of the buying community. Since then Mr Gent has worked to get all of its main offshore funds on the largest platforms.

Legg Mason announced its acquisition of Edinburgh-based equity fund group Martin Currie in July 2014. The deal was subsequently completed in the fourth quarter of last year and the group became one of Legg Mason’s affiliates.

Turning to that deal, Mr Gent says: “The acquisition came about as a result of Martin Currie looking for Legg Mason to actually help distribute Martin Currie strategies within the US domestic market. That’s not really what we do – we don’t distribute third-party products.

“Once that conversation had moved forward with the respective chief executives – Willie Watt [of Martin Currie] and Joe Sullivan [Legg Mason] – I think they came to an understanding that we wouldn’t distribute any third-party products, but would they be interested in becoming part of the Legg Mason group.

“That’s something that seemed like a really good strategic fit for [Martin Currie], in terms of growing its business, as well as retaining its own culture and independence.”

Clearly, Mr Gent has some way to go in his career but, to date, he is obviously most proud of the work he has undertaken at Legg Mason.

He notes: “I think it probably goes back to taking Legg Mason from a group that was known for just one or two strategies within the UK with a limited number of staff from a distribution perspective. It was [a team of] four back in 2007; we’re now a team of 12.

“We are diversified across the affiliates that we offer and we’re diversified from a channel perspective. It’s not just the discretionary [managers] that use us, it’s much more of a whole of market perspective. The advisory channels have been very supportive more recently.”

He adds: “I think we were underrepresented back in 2007 and I think we are better represented as we stand today, but there’s more to do.”

As for his own path from investment manager to head of UK sales, Mr Gent acknowledges that he has enjoyed the range of opportunities it has allowed him.

“It’s been a route that I think has given me broad exposure to different parts of the market and different experiences in terms of working on the buy side, as well as promoting funds,” he says.

“It’s a job that’s given me a huge amount of variety in terms of the types of clients I’ve dealt with across the years and one that’s been very rewarding.”

CV

Adam Gent

2010 – present

Head of UK sales, Legg Mason

2007 – 2010

Business development director, Legg Mason

2005 – 2007

Business development manager, south of England, Henderson Global Investors

2000 – 2005

Investment manager, Thesis Asset Management