InvestmentsApr 5 2019

Quilter sacks Woodford for Artemis's Frost

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Quilter sacks Woodford for Artemis's Frost

Wealth management firm Quilter has removed a segregated mandate from Neil Woodford and placed the capital with Artemis Income manager Adrian Frost.

The funds had been held within the Quilter UK Equity Income fund, which FTAdviser reported in February 2019 was among the worst performers over the previous three years.

The fund has lost 27 per cent in the three years to April 5, compared with a gain of over 23 per cent for the average fund in the IA UK All Companies sector in the same time period.

A spokesman for Quilter confirmed the assets, put at FE at £90m as of today (April 5), had moved and would be managed by Adrian Frost.

Mr Frost has run the £5.5bn Artemis Income fund since 2001. The fund has returned 28 per cent over the past three years.

Mr Frost and his Artemis colleagues already manage the UK Large Cap Income fund for Quilter, and the money being removed from Woodford will be merged into this fund.

The Quilter spokesman said: "While the fund groups and strategies for our sub-advised mandates are chosen with a long-term view, the process has the flexibility to add, replace, or remove fund managers where necessary.

"The Quilter Investors fund research team has recommended that the current investment adviser, Woodford Investment Management Limited, is replaced with Artemis Investment Management LLP."

The majority of the cash that Woodford managed on behalf of Quilter clients will continue to be managed by him, as it is managed within the Cirillum product range.

A spokesman for Woodford Investment Management confirmed the move, while a representative of Artemis declined to comment.

Scott Gallacher, an adviser at Rowley Tourton in Leicester said the Woodford fund has a particular focus on small and mid cap companies, while the Artemis fund has a focus on larger companies, so he wonders if this is appropriate.

He added that: “ Is it appropriate that Quilter as the product provider make the decision on the replacement?”  

david.thorpe@ft.com