When a fund has just launched or comes under new management it can often be difficult for investors to be persuaded to buy into it and often err on the side of caution. 
However, with new products regularly coming to market and natural turnover in the industry resulting in frequent manager changes.
Below, FundCalibre’s research director, Juliet Schooling Latter (pictured) highlights five funds who have come under new management or that are recently launched but worth keeping an eye on.
Zehrid Osmani – Legg Mason IF Martin Currie European Unconstrained
The first fund highlighted by Schooling Latter is Legg Mason IF Martin Currie European Unconstrained managed by Zehrid Osmani who joined the Martin Currie in 2018 from BlackRock.
At BlackRock, Osmani, ran three funds including the BlackRock SF European Opportunities Extension fund, which had a similar approach to his new fund.
The £30.3m fund has a focused, high conviction portfolio of quality growth European equities with no constraints, all of which are an appealing element, according to Schooling Latter.
The FundCalibre research director also noted that Osmani really focuses on a long-term investment outlook, something she said is important “to avoid short-term noise” and is “refreshing at a time when many investors are becoming increasingly short term”.
Performance of fund vs sector under Osmani
Source: FE Analytics
Since taking over the Legg Mason IF Martin Currie European Unconstrained fund it has made a return of 37.05 per cent; outperforming the IA Europe excluding the UK peer group (19.81 per cent).
The fund has an ongoing charges figure (OCF) of 1.05 per cent.
Jochen Breuer – Fidelity Asian Dividend
Next up is Jochen Breuer and the Fidelity Asian Dividend fund, who was appointed to the fund in October 2016, recently celebrating his third year as manager of the £94m fund.
While Breuer has a dividend focus, said Schooling Latter, he doesn’t only look for yield – offering some capital and dividend growth – although it is 30-40 per cent higher than the wider market.
“He likes to invest in high quality franchises, with good balance sheets, good levels of cash and strong management teams who understand capital allocation,” she said.
“While the portfolio favours high quality companies, Breuer will not invest in them at any price so the fund has a value tilt. “
Performance of fund vs sector & benchmark under Breuer
Source: FE Analytics
Breuer has managed to outperform both the IA Asia Pacific Excluding Japan index (35.38 per cent) and the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan High Dividend Yield sector (26.52 per cent) with a 44.20 per cent total return.
The five FE fundinfo Crown rated fund has a yield of 3.44 per cent and an OCF of 0.75 per cent.
Edmund Harriss and Mark Hammonds – Guinness Emerging Markets Equity Income
The $1.9m Guinness Emerging Markets Equity Income fund has been managed by Edmund Harriss and Mark Hammonds since launch in December 2016.
FundCalibre’s Schooling Latter said the pair follow “a tried and tested process, which has proved successful with their Asian and global equity income funds”.
“The managers do not look for income until the latter stages of their process,” she said. “This ensures they don’t miss out on good companies just because they are paying a smaller dividend.
“They have a one in-one-out approach, and the final 36 stocks in the portfolio are equally weighted.”
Since launch, the Guinness Emerging Markets Equity Income fund has underperformed both its MSCI Emerging Markets benchmark (37.03 per cent) and the IA Global Emerging Markets peer group (34.75 per cent) with a total return of 32.78 per cent.
It has a yield of 2.98 per cent and an OCF of 0.99 per cent.
Kunjal Gala – Hermes Global Emerging Markets SMID Equity
With veteran emerging markets investor Gary Greenberg announcing his intention to retire retirement in June 2022, colleague Kunjal Gala has been named as co-manager as part of succession planning on Greenberg’s portfolios, including the $180.6m Hermes Global Emerging Markets SMID Equity fund.
Gala has already worked alongside Greenberg on the larger $5.8bn Hermes Global Emerging Markets fund since 2016.
“Gala takes the wider macroeconomic picture into account when thinking about overall country weightings, and looks for undervalued quality companies - or as he describes it: ‘great companies at good prices, or good companies at great prices’,” said Schooling Latter. “Or as Kunjal said ‘great companies at good prices, or good companies at great prices’.”
Performance of fund vs sector & benchmark since launch
Source: FE Analytics
The Hermes Global Emerging Markets SMID Equity fund was launched in September 2018 and since then has made a return of 23.05 per cent, outperforming both the IA Global Emerging Markets sector (20.09 per cent) and the MSCI Emerging Markets SMID Cap index (13.64 per cent).
The fund has an OCF of 1.20 per cent.
Mike Scott – Man GLG High Yield Opportunities
The final fund on the list is the £31.8m Man GLG High Yield Opportunities fund overseen by Mike Scott. Scott previously managed a similar strategy at asset manager Schroders – Schroder High Yield Opportunities – which he left to join Man GLG towards the end of 2018.
Schooling Latter said while Scott’s new strategy follows a similar proves, he now has the flexibility to short bonds although that does not make it an absolute return fund.
She said Scott also has an unconstrained approach investing globally, albeit with an emphasis on the UK, North America and Europe.
Performance of fund vs sector since launch
Source: FE Analytics
Since launch, the Man GLG High Yield Opportunities fund has made a 9.40 per cent total return, outperforming against the average IA Sterling High Yield peer, which made 5.56 per cent over the same time frame.
The fund has a yield of 9.54 per cent and an OCF of 0.75 per cent.