EuropeJul 10 2017

Ex-Fidelity star Clapp to join RWC in takeover deal

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Ex-Fidelity star Clapp to join RWC in takeover deal

Former Fidelity equity manager Graham Clapp is to join RWC after the boutique agreed a takeover deal for his firm Pensato.

Mr Clapp, who ran Fidelity’s €25bn (£22bn) European Growth fund in the early 2000s, set up Pensato in 2008 and runs European long/short and long-only strategies with around $280m (£217m) in assets under management.

Pensato’s funds and seven-strong investment team will move across to RWC as part of the deal. The latter only has one European equity-focused strategy: the £109m absolute return fund managed by Ajay Ghambir.

Mr Clapp ran European equity strategies at Fidelity for 22 years before leaving to start Pensato. He was joined there by former colleagues Edward Rumble and Russell Champion.

The manager said: “We have built on the process I developed during my time at Fidelity, and by joining with RWC we have the opportunity to develop our strategies and focus purely on generating performance for our investors.”

The acquisition is RWC’s first since it brought on board John Malloy and the team from Miami-based emerging markets hedge fund Everest Capital in 2015.

RWC chief executive Dan Mannix added: “There remains real demand for exceptional investment teams who provide something different. We see the environment improving as barriers to entry rise and larger organisations increasingly put the squeeze on their investment teams.”