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Legget quits SLI, investors dump bond funds and trusts switch managers: Your fund news digest

27 June 2015

Over the past week, we have seen the news that Ed Legget will join Artemis after leaving Standard Life Investments, while Pictet has launched its first onshore fund for UK investors.

By Gary Jackson,

News Editor, FE Trustnet

With the usual flurry of news stories flying around the asset management world – and not all of them about Greece – FE Trustnet rounds up the headlines of the week in a handy digest.

 

Ed Legget to join Artemis after exiting Standard Life Investments

Ed Legget will take over the Artemis UK Growth fund from Tim Steer later this year after his departure from Standard Life Investments.

The manager has built a strong track record on his £1.3bn Standard Life Investments UK Equity Unconstrained fund, which FE Analytics shows is top decile in the IA UK All Companies sector over three and five years, as well as being second decile over one years.

Performance of fund over 5yrs

 

Source: FE Analytics

Wesley McCoy, who ran the fund from launch in 2005 until 2008 and rejoined SLI's UK equity team in 2012, will take over Legget’s portfolio with immediate effect.

SLI said: “Ed was part of our highly successful UK equities team and we would like to wish him well and thank him for his positive contribution to the UK equities team, and the business, over the last 13 years.”

“There will be no change to the management style, philosophy or process. Continuity of investment performance and commitment to relationship management remain our key priorities. Wes will be supported by the UK equities team which comprises 15 investment professionals.”

Steer is to retire from Artemis after six years at the group. Artemis senior partner Mark Tyndall said: “Tim has had a long and distinguished career in fund management. His skill as a stock-picker has seen the Artemis UK Growth fund produce excellent returns for its investors, and his forensic accounting techniques have been appreciated by our whole UK equity team.”

 

Fifth of trusts switch manager in last 18 months

Figures from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) this week revealed that 18 per cent of investment trusts have appointed a new manager in the past 18 months, either as a sole manager or as part of a team.

High profile moves include Paul Niven taking over Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust after a 17-year stint by Jeremy Tigue, Dale Nicholls running Fidelity China Special Situations after Anthony Bolton and Mark Barnett managing Edinburgh Investment Trust after Neil Woodford.

In the AIC’s Global sector, nine manager appointments have been made, representing one-quarter of the peer group’s members. In the Asia Pacific excluding Japan sector, a third of AIC members have had a new fund manager over the period in question.


 

AIC chief executive Ian Sayers said: “It is interesting to see so many high profile changes in a relatively short period of time. This is in part a coincidence, with a number of managers having retired after a long period of managing their investment companies. And, of course, some fund managers simply choose to move on to pastures new.”

“But it also reflects independent boards addressing long-term performance issues, a feature of the sector that is often underestimated but one which can be of huge benefit to shareholders.”

 

UK investors pull cash from bond funds in May

Figures from the Investment Association shows fixed income funds were hit by their first retail outflows since January 2014 in May, after investors took flight from the asset class following its pronounced sell-off at the start of the year.

Bond funds in the Investment Association universe had total net retail outflows of £162m last month, after being the most popular asset class with UK investors in April. Fixed income has been in the spotlight over much of 2015, due to a downturn in investor sentiment and speculation over when the Federal Reserve will make its first rate hike.

Performance of sectors over 2015

 

Source: FE Analytics

Funds in the IA Sterling Corporate Bond sector had a collective £105m redeemed over the month. FE Analytics shows Baillie Gifford Investment Grade Long Bond, Schroder All Maturities Corporate Bond and HSBC Corporate Bond as being the funds with the most money coming out.

A net £78m was pulled out of the IA Global Bond peer group, which has been one of the worst performing sectors over the year to date with an average loss of 2.55 per cent. Old Mutual Global Strategic Bond, which recently lost manager Stewart Cowley, suffered the highest net outflows.

Equities were May’s bestselling asset class in the Investment Association universe with net retail sales of £802, which is the highest pace of inflows since December 2014. IA UK Equity Income was the bestselling sector with £419m net retail sales, followed by IA Targeted Absolute Return, IA Europe Excluding UK and IA Property.

 

Pictet unveils multi-asset fund for Barings hires

Pictet Asset Management plans to open its first onshore fund for UK investors after announcing the launch of its FP Pictet Multi Asset Portfolio for its London-based multi-asset team.

The Swiss asset management firm hired the team, which is headed by Percival Stanion and includes Andrew Cole and Shaniel Ramjee, from Baring Asset Management in November 2014. The trio has worked together since 2001.


 

FP Pictet Multi Asset Portfolio will aim to make equity-like returns without the volatility associated with equities and will hold a range of investments including stocks, bonds and real assets such as property.

Managing downside risk and reducing volatility will be key priorities of the team, as they recognise that one year of weak returns can derail several years of growth.

Stanion said: “We aim to deliver long-term equity-like returns which we define as cash plus 4 per cent per annum, net of fees, over a three to five-year period. The fund is aimed at investors who are looking for steady returns while controlling the volatility of their portfolio.”

 

AXA IM creates GEM bond team

AXA Investment Managers has merged its London and Paris-based emerging markets debt teams with the Asian fixed income team in Hong Kong to create a global emerging markets (GEM) fixed income team.

But Damien Buchet, head of emerging markets fixed income, has decided to leave the firm in September to pursue a new opportunity. Until a replacement is appointed, the new team will be overseen by Asian fixed income head Jim Veneau and fixed income CIO Chris Iggo.

The combined team comprises six portfolio managers, two credit analysts and one research assistant, supported by two portfolio engineers, four fixed income traders specialising in emerging market debt and two emerging market economists.

This has come with new hires: Olga Fedotova has been appointed as head of emerging market credit and will join from UniCredit in October while Sailesh Lad has joined from Ignis Asset Management as a senior portfolio manager.

Veneau said: “Sailesh and Olga bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience and we all look forward to working with them as part of our growing GEM team.  This is an important area of growth for AXA IM and we will look to add more resources on the credit research side, as well as preparing for a major initiative in the renminbi bond market.”

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