Five equity management teams have been unveiled by The People’s Trust – a new investment trust being launched later this year by former Investment Association chief executive Daniel Godfrey (pictured). 
Teams from Artemis Investment Management, Comgest, First State Investments, JO Hambro Capital Management and Lansdowne Partners have been named as managers of the trust.
The teams will manage bespoke, equally-weighted portfolios for the trust, which is set to open to investment in September.
The trust will have an absolute return target, equal to the total compound annual return of consumer price index (CPI) inflation plus 5 per cent after costs, measured over rolling seven-year periods.
As part of its seven-year performance reporting, the trust will break down outcomes based on luck and manager skill.
The trust, which aims to deliver “better returns for investors and a better impact on society”, will also be investing in a portfolio of social impact investments managed by Big Issue Invest, the social investment arm of The Big Issue Group. An initial investment of 1 per cent of the assets will be made and could potentially rise to 5 per cent.
Daniel Godfrey, founder of The People’s Trust, said: “We couldn’t be happier than to work with these excellent managers who are all proven and successful investors and passionate about the power of long-term investment to serve clients and society.
“They are all excited about The People’s Trust’s model, ambition and values and the potential to make investment better for everyone.”
Below FE Trustnet looks at the managers who have been appointed and the mandates they currently manage.
Artemis Investment Management
Mark Niznik and William Tamworth will oversee the trust’s UK smaller companies strategy; the pair currently co-manage the four crown-rated Artemis UK Smaller Companies fund.
Over seven years, the £421.5m fund has delivered a total return of 203.5 per cent compared with a 183.8 per cent gain for the average IA UK Smaller Companies fund and a 173.3 per cent rise in the Numis Smaller Companies ex Investment Companies index.
Performance of fund vs sector & benchmark over 7yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Niznik said: “Over the long-term UK smaller companies have consistently outperformed larger companies, something that is well known but under-exploited.
“By being part of this ground-breaking seven-year mandate, investors in The People’s Trust are well placed to benefit from this trait.”
The fund has an ongoing charge figure of 0.84 per cent for the year ending December 2016.
Comgest
Managers from French asset manager Comgest include Arnaud Cosserat, Franz Weis, Alistair Wittet and Sébastien Thévoux-Chabuel will oversee the trust’s pan-European strategy.
Cosserat is chief executive, chief investment officer and portfolio manager within the European equity team at Comgest. Franz Weiss is team manager of the firm’s European equities team, Wittet is a portfolio manager while Thévoux-Chabuel is an environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) analyst.
The firm’s three crown-rated €2.2bn Comgest Growth Europe fund is co-managed by Cosserat and Weis – along with colleague Laurent Dobler.
The offshore fund has returned 83.8 per cent over seven years, compared with a return of 79.73 per cent for the benchmark MSCI Europe index and a 72.69 per cent gain for the average peer FO Equity – Europe inc UK fund.
First State Investments
First State is to be represented on the fund by its First State Asia Investment team, led by FE Alpha Manager Martin Lau. He is joined by fellow FE Alpha Managers Richard Jones and Alistair Thompson and Vinay Agarwal.
The team will manage the trust’s Asia-Pacific including Japan exposure.
Together with Jones, Lau manages the $2.8bn five crown-rated First State Asian Equity Plus fund. The offshore fund invests in companies based in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) that pay a regular and above average income while also having long-term growth potential.
Over seven years the fund has generated a 121.7 per cent total return, compared with a 84.34 per cent gain for the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan index benchmark.
Lau also manages several other funds with colleagues including the $102.8m four crown-rated First State Asia Pacific fund.
JO Hambro Capital Management
FE Alpha Manager Ben Leyland and Robert Lancastle will oversee the global equities portfolio. The two managers currently manage the five crown-rated JOHCM Global Opportunities fund.
The fund has delivered a 61.38 per cent return over three years, compared with a gain of 44.22 per cent for the average IA Global sector peer and a 52.76 per cent rise in the MSCI AC World index.
Performance of fund vs sector & benchmark over 3yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The fund has an ongoing charge figure of 0.84 per cent for the year ending December 2016.
Lansdowne Partners
The final portfolio – focused on clean energy – is to be managed by Per Lekander of Lansdowne Partners.
Lekander said: “The trust’s philosophy is highly complementary to the approach of the Clean Energy strategy, which places sustainability and ESG analysis at the centre of its investment process.
“We are pleased to be included in an offering which focuses on having both a positive impact on society as well as aiming to deliver compelling long-term financial returns.”
The manager formerly worked at Norges Bank Investment Management and UBS before joining the hedge fund manager in 2014.
The firm launched a fund during the fourth quarter of the year for investment in companies operating in the clean energy sector.