Eustace Santa Barbara and Guy Feld will head up the closely watched Marlborough UK smaller companies funds after veteran investor Giles Hargreave steps back from management responsibilities next year.
The changes for the Marlborough Special Situations, Marlborough UK Micro-Cap Growth and Marlborough Nano-Cap Growth came as Marlborough Fund Managers announced the long-term succession plan for the range.
FE fundinfo Alpha Manager Hargreave has enjoyed great success with the funds. Since the manager took over Marlborough Special Situations in 1998, its 2,548.73 per cent total return has been the highest of the entire Investment Association universe.
Performance of fund vs sector under Hargreave
Source: FE Analytics
From 1 January 2021, he will no longer be a named co-manager on the three funds although Marlborough said he will “continue to play a central role in the running of the three funds”. Santa Barbara and Feld – who have worked alongside Hargreave for some time – becoming the only named managers on the portfolios.
Santa Barbara has co-managed the £1.1bn Marlborough Special Situations fund with Hargreave for more than five years. He will take on the additional role of co-manager of Marlborough UK Micro-Cap Growth and Marlborough Nano-Cap Growth.
Feld, who has co-managed the £990m Marlborough UK Micro-Cap Growth fund for more than eight years and co-managed the £168.5m Marlborough Nano-Cap Growth fund for over six years, will become a co-manager of Marlborough Special Situations.
Wayne Green, joint managing director of Marlborough Fund Managers, said: “The success of the funds over many years has been down to a team-based approach. Giles has assembled and mentored a first-class team of experienced fund managers who are all strong believers in the investment process and philosophy that have made these funds so popular with investors.”
Hargreave will continue to lead weekly investment meetings and work closely with Santa Barbara and Feld, while the funds’ investment process and philosophy will remain unchanged after he steps back from day-to-day management duties.
The manager said: “Working with a large and talented team investing in some of the UK’s most exciting and innovative businesses is a great privilege and I look forward to continuing to do so. We have a very strong and collaborative team, united by one investment philosophy, and we are committed to our aim of seeing the funds continue to go from strength to strength.”
Performance of funds vs sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Darius McDermott, managing director of FundCalibre, described Hargreave as “an outstanding UK smaller companies fund manager” who has generated strong returns over the past two decades.
“Thankfully for his investors, during that time he has also built an exceptionally strong team. This is excellent succession planning that has been in the making for some years and investors are being given plenty of advance warning, as Giles will remain co-manager on the Marlborough small-cap funds until January 2021. Even then, he will remain closely involved,” McDermott added.
“The team members have worked together for many years and both of Giles’ co-managers, Eustace Santa Barbara and Guy Feld, have contributed significantly to the performance of the funds over their tenure. There will be total continuity for investors in terms of investment process, and we have the utmost confidence in their skills and that they will co-manage the funds successfully together in the future.”