Alex Wright’s Fidelity UK Smaller Companies fund has reopened to new money on the back of extra capacity, investors have continued to sell out of UK growth funds and Stuart Parks has been given a co-manager on the Invesco Perpetual Asian fund.
These are just some of the news stories that have broken in the asset management world this week. To save you from having to trawl through all the news websites, here’s a quick summary of what’s been going on over recent days.
Fidelity reopens Wright’s UK Smaller Companies fund
FE Alpha Manager Alex Wright and Jonathan Winton’s Fidelity UK Smaller Companies fund has reopened to new money after the asset management house determined that there was further capacity in the strategy.
The top-performing fund was removed from platforms in April 2013 after Fidelity said it wanted to protect the interests of existing investors following strong inflows into the product.
However, the group says it is now “confident” that there is further capacity in the fund, following the appointment of Winton as co-manager in 2013 and the addition of a dedicated small cap analyst.
Performance of fund vs sector and index since launch
Source: FE Analytics
Fidelity head of UK retail sales Ben Waterhouse said: “Fidelity UK Smaller Companies fund is one of our best performing funds and following a period of strong asset growth in 2013 we felt the time was right to take a pause for breath.”
“We have bolstered the resources on this fund, Alex and Jonathan have now been working together for two years and performance remains strong. We are confident we can now reopen the fund and will closely monitor capacity. Our primary focus remains on delivering for investors.”
FE Trustnet asked the experts earlier this week whether they would consider investing in the reopened fund. You can take another look at their thoughts here. http://www.trustnet.com/News/601926/should-you-buy-back-into-alex-wrights-fidelity-uk-smaller-companies-fund/
Investors ditch UK growth funds
Figures published by the Investment Association this week showed that retail investors continued their move away from UK growth funds in March.
A record £980m was pulled out of the IA UK All Companies sector in the month by retail investors while IA UK Smaller Companies funds were hit with £161m in net retail redemptions.
The IA UK Equity Income sector managed £178m in net retail inflows, although this was the lowest level of new money for the peer group in more than a year.
The bestselling sector was IA Europe ex UK, which took £506m in fresh money. Trackers funds also took a record £938m in retail month, taking total passive assets under management in the Investment Association universe to 11.5 per cent of the total.
Investment Association chief executive Daniel Godfrey said: “It was a particularly notable month as we saw retail investors switching record amounts out of UK equity funds and into European equity funds, developing a trend seen over the previous couple of months.”
Alliance Trust compromises with Elliott Advisors
The feud between Alliance Trust and Elliott Advisors made significant progress this week, after the trust’s board partially gave in to the hedge fund activist investor’s demands.
Alliance Trust has agreed to appoint two new non-execs to its board that have been proposed by Elliott: ex-SG Warburg executive Anthony Brooke and Dunedin Income Growth trust chairman Rory Macnamara.
The hedge fund had been pushing for three of its candidates to be given places on the trust’s board. Former LGIM chief Peter Chambers will not join and the board is now looking for an additional non-exec that will have to be approved by shareholders.
Performance of trust vs sector and indices over 3yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Alliance Trust chair Karen Forseke said: “Having considered [shareholder] feedback we have worked with Elliott to find a compromise which we believe is in the best interests of all our shareholders.”
“I would also like to welcome Anthony and Rory to the board where their significant experience will be a considerable asset.”
The move was made on the eve of a shareholder vote on Elliott’s proposals. Elliott has also agreed to “not call a general meeting or seek to agitate against the company, its board or management publicly until after the company's 2016 AGM at the earliest”.
Bond giant Pimco hires Ben Bernanke
Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has joined bond investment house Pimco as a senior adviser, where he will contribute his economic expertise and insights to the company’s investment process.
Bernanke served two terms as head of the US central bank between February 2006 and February 2014, meaning he oversaw the Fed’s response to the global financial crisis and its aftermath. He won many fans over his tenure and brought in the central bank’s unprecedented bond-buying programme as well as championing forward guidance.
Pimco chief executive Douglas Hodge said: “We are honoured to have Dr Bernanke serve as an advisor to Pimco and look forward to benefitting from his extraordinary knowledge and expertise to help us add value for our clients.”
“His unrivalled experience in navigating the global economy through the financial crisis will provide Pimco’s investment professionals with unique insights as we help our clients amidst a challenging and uncertain period for global markets in coming years.”
Parks gets co-manager on Invesco Perpetual Asian
William Lam has been appointed co-manager of £600m Invesco Perpetual Asian fund, working alongside current manager and Invesco head of Asian equities Stuart Parks.
Lam has been a member of the Asian equities team since 2006 and a named fund manager on the team’s Pacific funds since 2013. He also holds geographic responsibilities covering Korea and Taiwan within the team.
Performance of fund vs sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Meanwhile, Tim Dickson has been named as sole manager of Invesco Perpetual Asian Equity Income fund. He has co-managed the portfolio with Parks, who is stepping back from the fund, since launch in 2011.
Parks said: “William and Tim are both experienced fund managers who have each made significant contributions to the success of our Asian equities franchise.”
“They form an integral part of our highly experienced, long-serving Asian equities team that is supported by a first-class investment culture, market-leading capabilities and the infrastructure of a global firm.”
