Fund manager Nick Train has informed clients that succession planning is "in the early stages" at his firm.
Mr Train set up Lindsell Train with business partner and fund manager Mike Lindsell in 2000, and each of the founders retain a 36 per cent holding in the business.
Mr Train is 60 and Mr Lindsell is 59 and while neither have voiced an intention to retire anytime soon, they told shareholders it was time to start preparing for eventualities.
In recent updates to shareholders Mr Lindsell wrote: "Nick and I hope to be involved in the business for many years and have been taking important steps to ensure that the rest of the investment team are motivated and incentivised to take on significantly more responsibility (as they have been increasingly doing in the last five years); but, faced with the unlikely scenario that Nick or I will not be around for whatever reason, it’s clear that we have some way to go to engineer a smooth and seamless transfer of responsibilities."
Mr Train added: "Our plans for succession are still at an early stage."
Lindsell Train Limited had assets under management of £20.8bn at the end of May 2019, up from £15bn at the start of 2019.
About 12.5 per cent of the assets in the firm's open ended funds are from clients of Hargreaves Lansdown, which listed the funds on its Wealth 50 buylist before removing them this month citing fears around the perception that there could be a conflict of interest.
For the year to the end of January 2019, Lindsell Train Limited posted profits of £45m on a turnover of £84m. The highest paid director received £8m.
James Bullock was added as co-fund manager on the Lindsell Train Global Equity fund in 2015, and Companies House filings show that Mr Bullock’s personal shareholding has risen by a third over the past year.
He now owns 0.36 per cent of the shares, while Mr Lindsell and Mr Train each reduced their stakes in the firm slightly. The firm's head of client services and chief operating officer are also shareholders.
david.thorpe@ft.com
