Newton Investment Management has strengthened its Real Return team with the appointment of BlackRock’s Andy Warwick.
The move will take place at the end of July and will see Warwick join Suzanne Hutchins and Aron Pataki as co-lead portfolio manager on the Newton and BNY Mellon Real Return strategies.
Within this strategy is the Newton Real Return fund, which is Newton’s largest with nearly £9.5bn in assets under management (AUM).
Figures from FE Analytics show that the fund has underperformed its IA Targeted Absolute Return sector peers in recent years and has lost 1.51 per cent year-to-date compared to its peer group’s 1.74 per cent gain.
Performance of fund vs sector year-to-date
Source: FE Analytics
It should be noted, however, that the sector has come a wide array of strategies and may not be the best indicator of fund performance.
Head of UK and Ireland intermediary distribution at BNY Mellon Investment Management Fergus McCarthy said that the team-based strategy of the fund would not change but the investment approach would adapt to today’s financial environment.
“The strategy will continue to be based on its fundamental principles, but its approach will continue to evolve as the strategy seeks to navigate an evolving financial landscape and exploits a broad opportunity set to meet the requirements of our clients.”
He added that the addition of Warwick to the Real Return team proves the importance of the strategy to Newton IM going forward.
McCarthy said Warwick will bring a breadth of experience: “With 20 years of experience running multi-asset funds, Andy will bring a highly complementary skill set to the Real Return team, particularly in cross-asset-class research, macro input and portfolio construction.
“He has significant experience across asset classes, including equities, fixed income, commodities, credit, volatility and alternatives.”
Warwick joins from BlackRock, where he has been the manager of the £535m BlackRock Balanced Managed fund since 2014.
During his tenure, the fund has returned 34.15 per cent and has marginally underperformed its sector, IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares, which returned 34.22 per cent.
Performance of fund under manager tenure vs sector
Source: FE Analytics
BlackRock Diversified Managed invests two-thirds of its fund in equities, 22 per cent in fixed income and the rest in cash and derivatives with a less than 1 per cent position in alternatives.
Warwick has also been co-manager on the £2.4bn BlackRock Dynamic Diversified Growth fund and the BlackRock Balanced Growth fund.