The most recent big-name change came last week when Fidelity announced that FE Alpha Manager Alex Wright would be taking over its flagship Special Situations fund from Sanjeev Shah.
Investors in the £2.6bn fund will no-doubt be hoping that Wright replicates the performance of his five crown-rated Fidelity UK Smaller Companies fund, which has topped the IMA UK Smaller Companies sector over one, three and five years.
It will be a difficult challenge, however, with Wright needing to apply his techniques to larger companies and a larger pot of money.
With that in mind, FE Trustnet looks at a selection of highly feted managers who took over a new fund and succeeded, be it either one that had been run by a well-regarded manager, needed a turnaround or was just a new venture.
Richard Woolnough
Ben Willis, who is head of research at Whitechurch, says FE Alpha Manager Richard Woolnough’s appointment as manager of the M&G Corporate Bond fund was one of the best success stories of recent times.
"Back in the day in 2003, Anna Griffin had managed M&G’s flagship Corporate Bond fund but someone called Richard Woolnough took over," he said.
"This turned out to be one of the best appointments as he is one of the best bond managers around and he has attracted 10s of billions worth of inflows, plus they have gone on to set up two more funds for him."
"However, this was a big move as M&G was one of the first groups to launch a corporate bond fund, so it was a flagship product," he added.
Woolnough took over the £5.6bn M&G Corporate Bond fund in April 2004.
According to FE Analytics, since he has been at the helm, the fund has been the third-best performing portfolio in the IMA Sterling Corporate Bond sector, with returns of 72.16 per cent.
Performance of fund vs sector since April 2004
Source: FE Analytics
The M&G Corporate Bond fund also sits in the top quartile over five years and currently has a yield of 3.63 per cent. It has an ongoing charges figure (OCF) of 1.16 per cent and requires a minimum investment of £500.
Woolnough also runs two funds in the IMA Sterling Strategic Bond sector, namely M&G Strategic Corporate Bond and M&G Optimal Income.
M&G Strategic Corporate Bond is the best-performing fund in the sector over five years, while his Optimal Income portfolio ranks third.
With those three funds combined, Woolnough is in charge of a staggering £26bn worth of assets under management.
John Bennett
Willis says there was a lot of pressure on FE Alpha Manager John Bennett to turn around the Henderson European Selected Opportunities trust – then a Gartmore fund – from Roger Guy.
"Roger Guy had left and the question was who they were going to get in to replace him," he said.
"He had left because there had been a few issues with compliance surrounding his number-two, but the performance hadn’t been amazing."
"John Bennett had a good track record and had built up a name for himself at GAM and the fund has performed well since."
Bennett had managed a number of European funds at GAM before moving to Gartmore in February 2010, having been running the GAM Star European Equity fund from February 1993 through to November 2009.
The manager continued to use his bottom-up strategy with European equities since he made the move, and this has paid off.
Our data shows that his £1.5bn Henderson European Selected Opportunities fund is a top-quartile performer in the IMA Europe ex UK sector since he took over, with returns of 40.4 per cent, beating its benchmark – the FTSE Europe ex UK index – in the process.
Performance of fund vs sector and index since Feb 2010
Source: FE Analytics
His fund has an OCF of 1.76 per cent and requires a minimum investment of £1,000.
Bennett is also director of European equities at Henderson and currently manages seven portfolios at the group, including onshore and offshore funds, plus he runs the closed-ended Henderson European Focus Trust.
Neil Woodford
In the closed-ended space, Willis says that the announcement of FE Alpha Manager Neil Woodford as the manager of the Edinburgh Investment Trust came with a lot of expectation, given the fact he had performed so well in the unit trust & OEIC universe.
Woodford was already regarded as one of the best managers in the UK equity income space, having run his £14.1bn Invesco Perpetual High Income fund since February 1988.
However, the board’s decision in September 2009 to name him as manager of the already top-performing Edinburgh Investment Trust was Woodford’s first chance in the listed sector, and so far he has not disappointed.
Since his appointment, the closed-ended fund has returned 118.75 per cent, more than double the 57.18 per cent returns of the trust’s benchmark, the FTSE All Share.
Performance of trust vs index since Sep 2008
Source: FE Analytics
Woodford’s returns have been boosted by the narrowing of a discount and the trust rising onto a 5 per cent premium, but in NAV terms it has risen 73.5 per cent over five years.
The Edinburgh Investment Trust has almost doubled the 36.34 per cent returns of the FTSE All Share over three years, making 64.81 per cent. In NAV terms it has made 56.2 per cent.
The trust has gearing of 18 per cent and ongoing charges of 0.71 per cent, but it does use a performance fee. It currently has a yield of 3.8 per cent.
Clive Beagles
Tim Cockerill, investment director at Rowan Dartington, says Clive Beagles had a lot of pressure on his shoulders when he took on the challenge of the JOHCM UK Equity Income fund.
"One that springs to mind is Clive Beagles' move from Newton to JOHCM," he said.
"For me, that is a great example of a manager moving from one organisation to another and carrying on from where they left off."
"You do wonder when someone moves from a big group – like Newton – to a smaller one – like JOHCM – how they will get on. However, the move has worked out very well," he added.
Clive Beagles made the move from Newton to JOHCM in 2004.
He had already made a name for himself in the UK equity income space, as during his three years as manager of the Newton Higher Income fund – from July 2001 to September 2004 – it was the sixth-best performing fund in its sector.
However, he and James Lowen – who is co-manager of the JOHCM UK Equity Income fund and had also previously worked with Beagles at Newton – have carried on from where they left off.
The £2.1bn JOHCM UK Equity Income fund is the third best performer in the sector over five years, with returns of 97.58 per cent, which has meant it has nearly doubled the returns of the FTSE All Share over that time.
Performance of fund vs sector and index over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The fund is also a top-quartile performer over three years. It has a yield of 4.6 per cent.
It requires a minimum investment of £1,000 and has a total expense ratio (TER) of 1.28 per cent, but it has a performance fee of 15 per cent if the fund outperforms the index.
