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Bulletins highlight important events impacting any of our featured funds and explain any action we have taken in response. We also issue a bulletin when a fund is added or removed from any of our lists.
On 11 October 2024, the name of the Jupiter UK Special Situations fund changed to Jupiter UK Dynamic Equity. On the same day, the management of the fund formally transferred from Ben Whitmore to Alex Savvides as lead manager. Mr Savvides was previously the fund manager of JOHCM UK Dynamic, and his departure from the firm was announced in January 2024. Please see our previous bulletin for further information. Given our knowledge and understanding of Mr Savvides’ skills and experience,...
Read more >We have added Invesco Global Emerging Markets fund to our Recommended list. Fund Snapshot An emerging market equity fund where the manager looks for stocks that are trading below fair value, whilst also favouring conservative balance sheets. Within its sector, the fund features in our 'Larger-Cap, Value-Biased' category. Fund Description – Key Points The fund is managed by Charles Bond, who joined Invesco in April 2012. He works closely with deputy manager, Matthew Pigott. ...
Read more >On 3 October 2024, Jupiter Asset Management announced its plans to acquire Origin Asset Management, a London-based investment boutique. This proposed acquisition forms part of a wider review of the firm’s emerging markets franchise, whereby Jupiter wishes to build scale and expand its reach through different business channels. Alongside this news, Jupiter announced that Nick Payne, lead manager of the Jupiter Global Emerging Markets Focus fund, will be leaving the business at the end of 2...
Read more >On 9 September 2024, AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) announced that Stephen Kelly, senior fund manager, will be leaving the firm in November 2024. He is lead manager of the AXA Framlington American Growth fund, working closely with deputy manager, David Shaw. This fund features on our Recommended list. Mr Shaw will continue to focus on US equities. He has over 20 years’ experience in US equities and has worked alongside Mr Kelly since 2016, when he joined AXA IM. He is supported by...
Read more >We have moved the Ninety One UK Special Situations fund to our Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Positive Watch list. Fund Snapshot A contrarian UK equity fund that is managed according to a value strategy. Philosophically, the managers look to understand why conventional wisdom may be wrong, in doing so seeking to invest in companies that are priced at a significant discount to their true worth. Within its sector, the fund features in our ‘Value-Biased’ categ...
Read more >We have moved the Fidelity Sustainable MoneyBuilder Income fund to our Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Positive Watch list. Fidelity Sustainable MoneyBuilder Income has been on our Positive Watch list since Sajiv Vaid, previously a senior portfolio manager within the firm’s fixed income team and co-manager of this fund, announced his retirement. Kris Atkinson, who had been a co-manager on the fund since 2019 alongside Mr Vaid, then continued as lead manager, working ...
Read more >On 9 July 2024, BlackRock announced that Andreas Zoellinger, manager of the BlackRock Continental European Income fund, will be retiring from the industry in the first quarter of 2025. This fund features on our Recommended list. Mr Zoellinger will gradually transition his responsibilities over the coming six months and will cease managing portfolios by 31 December 2024. Stuart Brown formally joined BlackRock’s European equity team on 9 July 2024, having previously worked at abrdn as a p...
Read more >We have added the Orbis OEIC Global Cautious fund to our Recommended list. Fund Snapshot A multi-asset fund with no set cash/bond/equity allocations, with the managers taking a holistic approach to balancing risk and return. The fund is managed using a distinctive, naturally contrarian approach, with a focus upon intrinsic value and consideration of a company’s entire capital structure. Within its sector, the fund features in our ‘Flexible Mix, Primarily Global Bonds and Global Equit...
Read more >CT UK Monthly Income – Recommended removal On 25 June 2024, Columbia Threadneedle Investments announced that Jonathan Barber, portfolio manager of several UK equity strategies, including the CT UK Monthly Income fund, is leaving the firm at the end of June 2024. As a result, the fund no longer features on our Recommended list and has been removed from our service. Going forward, lead management of the CT UK Monthly Income fund will move to Dominic Younger, a portfolio in the firm’s U...
Read more >abrdn Emerging Markets Income Equity – Recommended addition We have added the abrdn Emerging Markets Income Equity fund to our Recommended list. Fund Snapshot An emerging market equity income fund where the manager is focused upon high quality companies. The manager looks not only for attractive current dividend yields, but also for dividend growth. Within its sector, the fund features in our ‘Larger-Cap, Income and Growth’ category. Fund Description – Key Points Lea...
Read more >On 14 June 2024, abrdn announced that Roger Webb, Deputy Head of the Sterling Credit Portfolio Management team, will be leaving the firm at the end of June 2024. He was a co-lead manager of the abrdn Strategic Bond fund, alongside Luke Hickmore and Adam Skerry. This fund features on our Recommended list. Messrs Hickmore and Skerry will continue in their co-portfolio manager roles and will be joined by portfolio manager, Jamie Irvine. Mr Hickmore is a senior manager in the fixed income t...
Read more >On 6 June 2024, Janus Henderson announced that John Pattullo, Co-Head of Global Bonds at the firm, will be retiring at the end of March 2025. This fund features on our Recommended list. Mr Pattullo will remain engaged in his current role and will maintain his responsibilities until his departure. Jenna Barnard, currently Co-Head of Global Bonds, will become Head of Global Bonds following Mr Pattullo’s departure. She will also retain primary portfolio management responsibilities on a...
Read more >Schroders has announced that Kevin Murphy, co-head of Schroder Global Value team, will be leaving Schroders to pursue opportunities outside the firm. Nick Kirrage, currently co-head of the Global Value team, will take full responsibility for the team. Summary of changes Back in 2022, Mr Kirrage’s role shifted to focus on global portfolios, while Mr Murphy focused on the UK portfolios. Going forward, Mr Kirrage will rejoin Andrew Lyddon and Andrew Evans on all UK value strategies. T...
Read more >Following recently announced changes, we have removed Fidelity Strategic Bond from The Adviser Centre. The fund previously featured on our Recommended list. On 2 May 2024, Fidelity International (Fidelity) announced that Mike Riddell, Head of AllianzGI’s Fixed Income Macro Unconstrained team, will join the firm in July and assume responsibility as the lead portfolio manager for Fidelity’s strategic and total return bond strategies, with an effective date of 1 December 2024, once contrac...
Read more >We have decided to remove L&G UK Property and its feeder fund, L&G UK Property Feeder*, from our Recommended list. This removal follows a recent shareholder vote, whereby the transition of the funds to a hybrid structure of direct property and global real estate securities was approved. IA UK Direct Property sector backdrop Funds residing in the IA UK Direct Property sector have been buffeted by economic, political and regulatory headwinds in recent years. As a result, there ha...
Read more >On 10 May 2024, Jupiter Asset Management announced that Dan Nickols, Head of Jupiter’s UK small and mid-cap equity (SMID) and manager of the Jupiter UK Smaller Companies, will be retiring on 30 June 2024. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from our Established list. Matt Cable, manager of the Jupiter UK Smaller Companies Equity Fund, will take over the management of the Jupiter UK Smaller Companies fund on 1 July 2024, with Tim Service as an additional manager. Mr Cable ...
Read more >On 29 April 2024, Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) announced that Head of Equities, Peter Rutter, together with four colleagues, had resigned from the firm. It is our understanding that they plan to set up their own investment company. As a result of this news, we have removed Royal London Global Equity Select from our service. Previously, it featured on our Established list. Piers Hillier, CIO of RLAM, has taken on overall responsibility for the firm’s Global Equity capabilities...
Read more >We have moved Lazard Emerging Markets to our Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Established list because the level of assets under management in the strategy across the product suite precluded it from being marketed actively. As assets under management have declined, this fund is fully open to new business. The fund size was £699m as at 31 March 2024. As a reminder, the fund is managed by the highly experienced emerging market equity manager, James Donald, and his t...
Read more >In our bulletin of 28 September 2023, we communicated the news that Jeremy Podger, manager of the Fidelity Global Special Situations fund, would be stepping back from full-time portfolio management, effective 31 March 2024. Fidelity has since announced that Tom Record (formerly Liontrust and Baillie Gifford) and Christine Baalham (formerly Ninety One and Schroder Investment Management) will replace Mr Podger as equal co-portfolio managers on this fund. Mr Record and Ms Baalham each bring ci...
Read more >We have added the AXA Sterling Credit Short Duration Bond fund to our Recommended list. Fund Snapshot A conservatively managed investment grade bond fund that focuses on the short-dated, final maturity date (or call date) of less than five years segment of the market. Within its sector, the fund features in our 'Investment Grade Credit, Short Duration' category. Fund Description – Key Points Lead manager, Nicolas Trindade, is experienced in managing short-dated credit mandates....
Read more >We have added the BNY Mellon US Equity Income fund to our Recommended list. Fund Snapshot A US equity income strategy with a strong heritage, managed by experienced practitioners. Alongside the search for companies with high current incomes and solid dividend growth is an unwavering focus upon valuation. The fund features in our ‘Larger-Cap, Value - Dividend Strategy’ category. Fund Description – Key Points The fund is managed by John Bailer as lead manager, working closely...
Read more >On 9 January 2024, it was announced that Alex Savvides, manager of the JOHCM UK Dynamic fund, will be leaving the firm. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from our service. Mr Savvides will join Jupiter Asset Management by the autumn of 2024 to manage the Jupiter UK Special Situations fund. This fund is currently managed by Ben Whitmore, who has announced that he is leaving the firm, alongside colleagues Dermot Murphy and Claudia Ripley (please see the related bulletin her...
Read more >On 9 January 2024, it was announced that Ben Whitmore, manager of the Jupiter UK Special Situations fund, is leaving the firm to pursue his ambition of establishing an independent value equities boutique. His colleagues, Dermot Murphy and Claudia Ripley, will also leave the firm to join Mr Whitmore in the new venture. On the same day, it was announced that Alex Savvides, manager of the JOHCM UK Dynamic fund, will be leaving JO Hambro Capital Management and will join Jupiter Asset Management...
Read more >After a period of close monitoring, we have decided to remove the abrdn UK Income Unconstrained Equity fund from our service. The manager, Thomas Moore, seeks income-generating opportunities from across the market-cap spectrum, using a fundamental stock-picking approach. Given the fund’s structural overweight in lower-cap stocks compared to the UK index, its risk/return outcome can differ meaningfully from many funds in the peer group, where a bias to larger-cap stocks is more typical. ...
Read more >Following a review of the funds featured within our service, we have removed the following funds from our Recommended list because of diminished fund sizes: FTF Martin Currie Emerging Markets Ninety One Emerging Markets Equity Janus Henderson European Absolute Return In the case of these funds, the assets under management in the vehicles that are suitable for the UK retail market have declined and do not meet the thresholds for our service. We continue to have high regard for th...
Read more >There has been a change of portfolio manager responsibilities for the AXA Framlington UK Select Opportunities fund. Deputy fund manager, Nigel Yates, is now the lead manager, while Chris St John, previously the lead manager, has moved into the deputy manager role. Mr St John will support Mr Yates and continue to play an active role in the management of the fund. Following this news, the fund remains on our Recommended list. Mr St John joined AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) in 2005 and...
Read more >On 27 November 2023, Jupiter Asset Management announced that Richard Watts, manager of the Jupiter UK Mid Cap fund, will be leaving the firm at the end of March 2024. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. With immediate effect, Tim Service will assume the role of lead manager of the Jupiter UK Mid Cap fund, supported by fellow manager, James Gilbert. Both are investment managers in Jupiter’s UK Small and Mid Cap Equities team, headed by Dan Nickol...
Read more >On 10 October 2023, JP Morgan Asset Management (JP Morgan), announced that John Baker, one of the three co-lead managers on the JPM UK Dynamic fund, will retire in the spring of 2024. Following this news, the fund remains on our Recommended list. Mr Baker will continue co-managing the fund alongside Jon Ingram and Blake Crawford until the spring of 2024. Messrs Ingram and Crawford are being joined by Victoria Helvert as the third co-manager. Ms Helvert has been involved in the managemen...
Read more >On 3 October 2023, we were made aware of some changes in the management of the Aviva Investors UK Listed Equity Income fund. We have decided to remove the fund from the service. We will be holding meetings in the coming weeks to discuss these changes and future plans....
Read more >On 27 September 2023, Fidelity announced that Jeremy Podger, lead portfolio manager of the Fidelity Global Special Situations fund, has decided to step back from full-time active portfolio management, effective 31 March 2024. Fidelity has also indicated that two experienced portfolio managers have been recruited to the Global Equity team to be co-managers on this fund. There is a keen focus upon ensuring that investors in the fund continue to benefit from the “all weather” outcomes for ...
Read more >There has been a change in the fund management team that affects two funds on our Recommended list, Fidelity Sustainable MoneyBuilder Income and Fidelity MoneyBuilder Balanced. As a result, we are moving Fidelity Sustainable MoneyBuilder Income from the Recommended list to the Positive Watch list. Fidelity MoneyBuilder Balanced will continue to feature on our Recommended list. In our bulletin of 7 February 2023, we communicated the news that Sajiv Vaid, senior portfolio manager within Fid...
Read more >On 13 September 2023, JP Morgan Asset Management announced that Clare Hart, long-standing manager of the JPM US Equity Income fund, will retire from the firm in September 2024. This fund features on our Recommended list. Ms Hart will spend the next twelve months in her current role, continuing as portfolio manager and ensuring a smooth transition. She will be handing over responsibility for the fund to her colleagues, Andy Brandon and David Silberman, who are both portfolio managers for t...
Read more >In our bulletin of 9 June 2023, we communicated the news that Richard Buxton, lead manager of the Jupiter UK Alpha fund, would be leaving Jupiter at the end of the summer. The management of the fund has now been passed to his colleagues, Ed Meier (lead manager) and Errol Francis, who are both managers in Jupiter’s UK Alpha Equities team. Messrs Meier and Francis have worked alongside Mr Buxton for many years at different organisations and have been closely associated with the UK Alpha str...
Read more >On 31 August 2023, Janus Henderson announced that John Bennett, Director of European Equities and lead manager of the Janus Henderson European Selected Opportunities fund, and co-manager of the Janus Henderson European Absolute Return fund, will retire a year from now in August 2024. Both funds feature on our Recommended list. Janus Henderson has a well-resourced European equities team. Mr Bennett will continue to work closely with the team until his departure to ensure a seamless transit...
Read more >We have added FTF ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Income fund to our Recommended list. Fund Snapshot A specialist global equity fund dedicated to investing in companies with high quality infrastructure assets, with a view to delivering a sustainable level of income and capital growth. The performance objective is to deliver a return above inflation on a 5-year view, with income being an important component of the total return. Fund Description – Key Points The fund is run by ...
Read more >On 2 June 2023, Jupiter Asset Management announced that Richard Buxton, the long-standing manager of the Jupiter UK Alpha fund, will retire from the firm at the end of this summer. The fund features on our Recommended list. Mr Buxton will be handing responsibility for the fund to his colleagues, Ed Meier and Errol Francis, who are both investment managers in Jupiter’s UK Alpha Equities team. Both managers have worked alongside Mr Buxton for many years at different organisations and have...
Read more >We have added Schroder European Recovery to our Recommended list. Fund Snapshot A European equity fund managed according to a disciplined value approach. The team looks for companies that have suffered a significant operational and/or share price setback but have the potential to recover over the long term. Within its sector, the fund features in our ‘Value-Biased’ category. Fund Description – Key Points The fund is managed by Andrew Evans and Andrew Lyddon, members of Sc...
Read more >We have added Premier Miton Corporate Bond Monthly Income to our Recommended list. Fund Snapshot An actively managed corporate bond fund where the managers focus upon higher quality bonds issued by stable, investment grade companies. Within its sector, the fund features in our 'Dynamic' category. Fund Description – Key Points The fund is managed by Lloyd Harris, Head of Fixed Income, and Simon Prior, who both joined Premier Miton in 2020. Philosophically, the managers aim to...
Read more >We have added Schroder Tokyo to the service as a Recommended fund. Fund Snapshot A Japanese equity fund with a long heritage. Robust proprietary stock research is the bedrock of the approach, with the team seeking companies where their expectations differ from market consensus. Within its sector, the fund features in our 'All-Cap, Blend’ category. Fund Description – Key Points This Recommended fund is managed by Masaki Taketsume, who is a member of Schroders’ well-resourc...
Read more >Following the news that Louise Keeling, lead portfolio manager of Redwheel Global Horizon, is leaving the firm, we are removing the fund from our Recommended list. The fund will continue to be managed by Benjamin Hall, currently co-manager on the fund. He will continue to be supported by three analysts....
Read more >The abrdn European High Yield Bond fund has been merged into abrdn High Yield Bond. abrdn High Yield Bond is the “continuing” fund and, henceforth, we will feature this fund on our Recommended list. Following shareholder approval, abrdn Fund Managers Ltd (abrdn) has taken this action in response to a review of the firm’s entire fund range. Given the similarities in the investment objectives, policies and risk/return profiles of these two funds, the decision was taken to merge them, br...
Read more >Royal London Global Equity Select has been moved to our Established list. Previously, the fund featured on our Recommended list. We have taken this action due to Royal London Asset Management’s (RLAM) plans to manage the capacity of the Global Equity Select strategy. RLAM has concluded that the strategy, in which a range of different funds and accounts are invested, has grown to a size that brings it close to the firm’s assessment of full capacity. As a result, RLAM has announced th...
Read more >Following a sector review, we have removed Schroder European from our Recommended list. The fund no longer features in our service. We have taken this decision because the fund’s relative performance outcome has not met expectations. By design, this is a stock-picking fund and does not have a structural style bias. It is managed by Martin Skanberg, who draws upon Schroders’ well-resourced team of sector analysts. The approach is described as “alpha” driven, not “beta” dri...
Read more >On 7 February 2023, Ninety One announced that Simon Brazier, manager of the Ninety One UK Alpha fund and Co-Head of the Quality Capability at Ninety One, would be leaving the firm at the end of May 2023. Following this news, the fund no longer features on our Recommended list and we have removed it from our service. Mr Brazier will cease to be a named portfolio manager on the fund from 31 March 2023, but will remain with Ninety One until the end of May 2023. From 1 April 2023, Anna Farmb...
Read more >On 30 January 2023, Fidelity announced that Sajiv Vaid, senior portfolio manager within the fixed income team, and lead manager of the Fidelity Sustainable MoneyBuilder Income fund, and co-manager of the Fidelity MoneyBuilder Balanced fund, will retire in December 2023. Both funds continue to feature on our Recommended list. Mr Vaid will cease to be a named portfolio manager on all strategies from 30 September 2023, but will remain with Fidelity until his retirement at the end of the year t...
Read more >We are removing abrdn Global Absolute Return Strategies from our Established list and the fund will no longer feature in our service. The fund has been on close watch for some time as performance has fallen short of expectations. The fund targets a gross return of cash (SONIA) + 5%, evaluated over 3-year rolling periods, but this objective has not been met. In addition, there have been various team changes relating to this strategy. Most recently, on 1 February 2023, the firm announced ...
Read more >Following a review of the funds that feature on our Established list, and in discussion with the asset managers, we have moved the following funds to our Recommended list: Fund Name IA Sectors Fund Size Artemis Income UK Equity Income £4,589m (Dec 22) Invesco Corporate Bond £ Corporate Bond £1,673m (Dec 22) M&G Corporate Bond £ Corporate Bond £1,370m (Dec 22) M&G Strategic Corporate Bond £ Corporate Bond £1,161m (Dec22) M&G Optimal Inc...
Read more >We have decided to remove CT UK Property Authorised Investment Fund* (and its feeder fund, CT UK Property Authorised Trust) and M&G Property Portfolio* (and its feeder fund, M&G Feeder of Property Portfolio) from our Recommended list. Sector backdrop The IA UK Direct Property sector has been buffeted by economic, political and regulatory headwinds in recent years. As a result, the sector has seen significant outflows and some funds have been suspended and/or are being wound down....
Read more >We have added M&G Global Emerging Markets to the service as a Recommended fund. Fund Snapshot An emerging market equity fund that is underpinned by in-depth stock research, investing across high quality, restructuring and growth companies. The team has a strong focus on valuation, and they invest with a long-term mindset. Within its sector, the fund features in our 'Larger-Cap, Value' category. Fund Description – Key Points This Recommended fund is managed by Michael Bour...
Read more >Fidelity has announced that Michael Clark, co-manager of the Fidelity MoneyBuilder Dividend and Fidelity MoneyBuilder Balanced funds, is retiring at the end of 2022. Rupert Gifford, who has been Mr Clark’s co-manager on Fidelity MoneyBuilder Dividend since February 2020, will become the lead manager in January 2023. He has been a member of the Income team since 2015, and part of the broader Fidelity Equity team since 2006. He has over 20 years of investment experience. He will also b...
Read more >We have moved CT UK Equity Income from the Recommended list to the Positive Watch list. Former manager and Head of UK Equities, Richard Colwell, recently announced his departure from Columbia Threadneedle Investments. Why we are positive The fund is now managed by Jeremy Smith. He has also been appointed Co-Head of the UK Equities team. He was previously Head of UK Equity Research and worked closely with Richard Colwell. Jonathan Barber, the deputy manager, remains in the team...
Read more >We have added Man GLG High Yield Opportunities to the service as a Recommended fund. Fund Snapshot A long-biased, unconstrained global high yield bond fund that is managed with a “go anywhere” mindset. The approach is based upon rigorous credit research to identify mispriced opportunities in any high yield market, regardless of the benchmark. Within its sector, the fund features in our ‘Global High Yield, Flexible’ category. Fund Description – Key Points This Recommen...
Read more >Schroder Investment Management Ltd has announced several changes to portfolio management responsibilities within their Global Value Team, effective 1 November 2022. The Schroder Recovery and Schroder Global Recovery funds, both featured within The Adviser Centre, are impacted by the changes. In summary: Fund Name IA Sector Current Managers Managers from November 2022 The Adviser Centre fund list Schroder Recovery UK All Companies Nick Kirrage Kevin Murphy Kevin ...
Read more >With effect from 12 noon on 10 October 2022, Columbia Threadneedle Investments temporarily suspended dealing in the CT UK Property Authorised Investment fund (PAIF) and its feeder fund, CT UK Property Authorised Trust. Columbia Threadneedle has taken this step because the amount of cash in the fund had fallen to a level whereby future redemption requests could not be met without the sale of property assets. This means that investors are unable to buy or sell shares in the CT UK Property A...
Read more >We have added Schroder High Yield Opportunities to the service as a Recommended fund. Fund Snapshot The fund provides exposure to pan-European high yield bonds. The process is characterised by in-depth credit research, which is framed by investment themes. Within this, the manager invests with flexibility. Within its sector, the fund features in our 'Primarily Pan-European High Yield, Flexible' category. Fund Description – Key Points This Recommended fund is managed by an e...
Read more >On 3 October 2022, Artemis announced a change in the team that manages Artemis Monthly Distribution. Stephen Baines, who was responsible for the management of the fixed income portion of the fund, has left the firm. The fixed income component of fund will be managed by the Artemis Fixed Income team, with David Ennett and Jack Holmes, high yield specialists within the team, taking lead portfolio management responsibility. They will continue to work closely with Jacob de Tusch-Lec and James...
Read more >Details of the fund manager change On 27 September 2022, Columbia Threadneedle Investments (CTI) announced that Richard Colwell, Head of UK Equities and manager of the CT UK Equity Income fund, is retiring in November 2022. The management of the fund will transition to Jeremy Smith, who is currently Head of UK Equity Research and a portfolio manager in the UK Equities team. Jonathan Barber remains as deputy manager of the fund. Changes to the UK Equities team Jeremy Smith...
Read more >On 20 September 2022, BNY Mellon Investment Management announced that Ilga Haubelt, Head of Equity Income at Newton Investment Management (‘Newton’, a subsidiary of BNY Mellon Investment Management) has left the firm to pursue other opportunities. She was a co-lead manager of the BNY Mellon Global Income fund, alongside Jon Bell and Robert Hay. Following this news, we are retaining the fund on our Recommended list. Details of team changes Subject to due process, she will be replace...
Read more >Details of the fund manager change On 5 September 2022, Martin Currie Investment Management Limited (Martin Currie), the investment manager for the FTF Franklin UK Managers’ Focus fund, announced that Colin Morton, one of the four co-lead managers of the fund, will retire at the end of 2022. Following this news, the fund remains on our Recommended list. Mr Morton will continue co-managing the fund alongside Richard Bullas, Ben Russon and Dan Green until the end of December 2022. Mess...
Read more >We have added Jupiter Global Emerging Markets Focus to the service as a Recommended fund. Fund snapshot An emerging market equity fund where the overriding driver is the search for quality, defined as businesses that sustain competitive advantages and so protect long-term profits and market share. Within its sector, the fund features in our 'Larger-Cap, Growth-Biased' category. Fund description – key points The fund is managed by a close-knit team of experienced emerging market...
Read more >On 5 September 2022, abrdn announced that Harry Nimmo, the long-standing lead manager of abrdn UK Smaller Companies, will retire at the end of 2022. Following this news, the fund remains on our Established list. Following Mr Nimmo’s retirement, the fund management team will consist of Abby Glennie, currently co-manager, and Amanda Yeaman, an experienced member of the UK Smaller Companies team, who will be promoted to deputy manager with effect from 1 January 2023. Ms Glennie has worked ...
Read more >Standard Life Aberdeen Plc changed its name and re-branded to abrdn on 2 July 2021. Following on from this change, the Authorised Corporate Director of the funds has changed its name from Aberdeen Standard Fund Managers Limited to abrdn Fund Managers Limited on or around 1 August 2022. In addition, abrdn have renamed a number of its UK funds to include the abrdn prefix in place of ASI, Aberdeen Standard and Standard Life Investments. The rebrand effects the following funds featured with...
Read more >AXA Investment Managers UK Limited (AXA IM) has announced the following changes: Change of fund name On 18 July 2022, the name of the AXA Framlington Managed Balanced fund was changed to AXA Framlington Global Sustainable Managed. Change of investment policy The formal investment policy has been altered, such that there is a stated emphasis upon environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Henceforth, the managers will favour companies that either demonstrate leadership on s...
Read more >On 18 July 2022, Martin Currie (a Franklin Templeton Specialist Investment Manager) announced that Hideo Shiozumi, manager of the FTF Martin Currie Japan Equity fund, would be stepping back from portfolio management responsibilities ahead of his retirement in 2023. Following this news, the fund no longer features on our Established list and we have removed it from our service. Change of sub-investment manager At present, Shiozumi Asset Management Limited is the sub-investment manager of ...
Read more >We have added Royal London Global Equity Select to the service as a Recommended fund. Fund snapshot A relatively concentrated, stock-picking global equity fund where the investment team emphasises business fundamentals and the analysis of corporate lifecycles. Within its sector, the fund features in our 'Larger-Cap, Blend' category. Fund description – key points This Recommended fund is managed by an experienced team. Peter Rutter, Will Kenney and James Clarke have been inves...
Read more >As announced on 7 July 2022, Liontrust Asset Management (Liontrust) has changed the name of the Liontrust European Growth fund to Liontrust European Dynamic, with effect from 11 July 2022*. This change is being made to reflect the way in which the fund is managed more accurately. The fund is managed by the Cashflow Solution team co-heads, James Inglis-Jones and Samantha Gleave, with Ms Gleave newly promoted to the role. There are no changes to the investment philosophy and process. The...
Read more >Following the acquisition of BMO’s EMEA Asset Management business by Columbia Threadneedle Investments last year, the firm is now operating under a single brand. On 4 July 2022, the firm’s UK-domiciled fund names changed and now have the prefix ‘CT’*. The list below shows the Columbia Threadneedle funds that currently feature within The Adviser Centre, alongside their new names: Former Name New Name Threadneedle European Select CT European Select Threadneedle Glob...
Read more >Following our further research, we are reinstating the Artemis High Income and Artemis Monthly Distribution funds to our Recommended list. As communicated in our bulletin of 10 September 2021, James Foster, co-manager of the Artemis Strategic Bond fund and co-manager of the Artemis Monthly Distribution fund, retired at the end of 2021. Alex Ralph, co-manager of the Artemis Strategic Bond fund and lead manager of the Artemis High Income fund, left the firm. Stephen Snowden, who joined Art...
Read more >Change of name Fidelity has changed the name of the Fidelity MoneyBuilder Income fund to Fidelity Sustainable MoneyBuilder Income and it has become part of Fidelity’s Sustainable Fund Family. The fund continues to feature on our Recommended list. Why has Fidelity made this change? In making this change, Fidelity highlighted that sustainable investing is increasingly important to its clients and the firm alike. The managers, Sajiv Vaid and Kris Atkinson, are experienced in managing...
Read more >We have added Stonehage Fleming Global Best Ideas Equity to the service as a Recommended fund. Fund snapshot A large-cap, global equity fund that is concentrated in nature and is invested in companies considered to be best-of-breed. A “Global Best Idea” is typically a firm that is a leader in its field and has sustainable growth and positive free cash flow attributes. Within its sector, the fund features within our ‘Larger-Cap, Growth’ category. Fund description – key poin...
Read more >Following the news that Ross Teverson, manager of the Jupiter Global Emerging Markets fund, is leaving the firm, we have removed it from our service. The fund featured on our Positive Watch list and the strategy was notable for its all-cap nature and exposure to some of the less developed emerging markets. This, combined with the team’s focus upon changing and improving situations, meant that the outcome tended to be more variable when compared to other funds in the sector. These charac...
Read more >We have added the Artemis US Smaller Companies fund to the service as a Recommended fund. Fund snapshot A North American equity fund that invests in small to medium-sized companies. The team focuses on companies with growth prospects that have been underestimated or overlooked by the market, but which they believe have great potential. Within its sector, the fund features in our ‘Smaller to Mid-Cap, Growth-Biased’ category. Fund description – key points The fund is manage...
Read more >We have moved the M&G North American Dividend fund to our Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Positive Watch list. The fund is managed by John Weavers, an established member of the M&G Income team, headed by Stuart Rhodes. The fund was launched in April 2015, although the team has been managing a range of portfolios that are underpinned by a dividend growth philosophy since 2008. In this fund, the manager aims to deliver attractive total returns through the ...
Read more >Following a review, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has made changes to several funds in its active fixed income suite to provide greater clarity to its investors. As part of this exercise, Legal & General Managed Monthly Income Trust was renamed Legal & General Active Sterling Corporate Bond Plus on 7 February 2022. In addition, the fund’s outperformance target has been altered. The fund’s benchmark is the Markit iBoxx Sterling Corporate Bond Total Return In...
Read more >As announced in January 2022, RWC Partners has rebranded and the business is now known as Redwheel. The re-brand has not resulted in any changes to the investment teams, or to the product range. We feature two of the firm’s funds on our Recommended list and both are to be re-branded, as follows: Existing Name New Name Date of name change TM RWC Global Equity Income TM Redwheel Global Equity Income 31 January 2022 RWC Global Horizon Redwheel Global Horizon 21 Februar...
Read more >Following a review, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has made changes to several funds in its active fixed income suite to provide clearer objectives, policies and outcomes for its investors. As part of this exercise, Legal & General High Income Trust fund was renamed Legal & General Active Global High Yield Bond on 5 January 2022. In addition, the fund’s benchmark has been changed from a composite index that included 5% cash, to a single index, the ICE BofA BB-B ...
Read more >We have moved the Jupiter European fund to our Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Positive Watch list. Jupiter European has been on our Positive Watch list since Alexander Darwall, former portfolio manager, announced that he was leaving the firm. The fund was formally handed to new managers, Mark Nichols and Mark Heslop, on 1 October 2019. They joined the firm from Columbia Threadneedle, where they had worked together for several years. Mr Nichols is an experienced Eu...
Read more >We have moved the Fidelity Strategic Bond fund to our Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Positive Watch list. Fidelity Strategic Bond has been on our Positive Watch list since Ian Spreadbury, previously a senior portfolio manager within the firm’s fixed income team and co-manager of this fund, announced his retirement. Tim Foster and Claudio Ferrarese, who had been co-managers on the fund since April 2017, alongside Mr Spreadbury, then continued as co-lead managers af...
Read more >New IA sectors launched In September 2021, The Investment Association (IA) announced the launch of six new sectors. The new sectors are: New country – regional equity sectors: Latin America India/Indian Subcontinent Industry sectors: Financials and Financial Innovation Healthcare Alternative investment approaches: Infrastructure Commodity/Natural Resources Funds that feature in these new IA sectors were drawn predominately (but not only) from the IA Glo...
Read more >We have added Ninety One UK Special Situations to The Adviser Centre as a Positive Watch fund. Fund snapshot A contrarian UK equity fund that is managed according to a value strategy. Philosophically, the managers look to understand why conventional wisdom may be wrong, in doing so seeking to invest in companies that are priced at a significant discount to their true worth. Within its sector, the fund features in our 'Value-Biased' category. Fund description - key points The fu...
Read more >Following the news of James Foster’s upcoming retirement and Alex Ralph’s departure from Artemis, we have removed Artemis Strategic Bond, Artemis High Income and Artemis Monthly Distribution from The Adviser Centre. All three funds featured on our Recommended list. James Foster, co-manager of the Artemis Strategic Bond fund and co-manager of the Artemis Monthly Distribution fund, is planning to retire at the end of 2021. Alex Ralph, co-manager of the Artemis Strategic Bond fund and le...
Read more >We have removed AXA Global High Income from our Recommended list. We have taken this decision following the news that James Gledhill, Lead Portfolio Manager and Head of European High Yield, is leaving the firm to pursue other interests. We are also terribly sad to hear the news that Global Head of High Yield and US Active Fixed Income, Carl “Pepper” Whitbeck, has passed away suddenly. He worked closely with Mr Gledhill on the management of this fund. The fund continues to be backed...
Read more >Background Legg Mason and its group of companies was acquired by Franklin Resources, Inc (a company of Franklin Templeton Investments) on 31 July 2020. Subsequent to this acquisition, Franklin Templeton has announced a forthcoming change of ACD, together with fund name changes. Details of changes On 7 August 2021, the ACD of Legg Mason ICVC will change from Legg Mason Investment Funds Limited to Franklin Templeton Fund Management Limited. Fund names will also change to reflect the ...
Read more >We have added TM RWC Global Equity Income to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Fund snapshot A global equity income fund which is managed with a strict yield discipline. The team looks for high quality, durable businesses which are out-of favour or misunderstood. This approach guides them to premium yielding companies, which is a key feature of the fund. Within its sector, the fund features in our Larger-Cap, Dividend Sustainability category. Fund description - key points ...
Read more >We have removed Invesco Global Targeted Returns from our Recommended list. A combination of factors has led us to this decision. Firstly, we have been monitoring the fund for some time for performance reasons. Like other multi-asset funds of its ilk within the IA Targeted Absolute Return sector, where risk control and diversification are at the heart of the proposition, generating a positive outcome has been a challenge against a backdrop of quantitative easing and narrow equity market l...
Read more >Invesco has announced that Paul Causer and Paul Read will retire from their roles as Co-Heads of the Henley Fixed Interest team at the end of 2021. They have worked at Invesco for 26 years, growing the Henley fixed income franchise from small beginnings to today’s £25bn under management (as at 31 March 2021) and a team of 28 people that includes 10 fund managers. The leadership of the team will move to Michael Matthews and Thomas Moore in January 2022 and they will work closely with Mess...
Read more >We have moved the Invesco Asian fund to our Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Positive Watch list. Invesco Asian has featured on our Positive Watch list since Stuart Parks, previously the Head of Asian Equities, stepped back from day-to-day management of the fund. William Lam, who had been co-manager, then became the sole manager. Mr Lam is also Co-Head of the Asia & Emerging Markets team, alongside Ian Hargreaves. Under Mr Lam’s stewardship, the fund has de...
Read more >We have moved Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Leaders to our Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Established list. For several years, the fund was not actively marketed due to the scale of its assets under management. For this reason, the fund resided in our Established category. Today, the fund size is such that there are no longer any general restrictions on inflows. Therefore, we have moved it to our Recommended list. As at 31 March 2021, the fund siz...
Read more >We have moved Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders Sustainability to our Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Established list. For several years, the fund was not actively marketed due to the scale of its assets under management. For this reason, the fund resided in our Established category. Today, the fund size is such that there are no longer any general restrictions on inflows. Therefore, we have moved it to our Recommended list. As at 31 March 2021, the fund...
Read more >We have added Liontrust UK Micro Cap to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Fund snapshot A UK micro-cap fund whereby the managers use a well-established and distinctive process to identify businesses that have durable competitive advantages. The ‘Economic Advantage’ approach focuses upon intangible strengths that are difficult to replicate and support structural growth. Within its sector, the fund features in our ‘Micro-Cap, Growth’ category. Fund description - key po...
Read more >M&G Investments (M&G) has announced that dealing in the M&G Property Portfolio and its feeder fund, the M&G Feeder of Property Portfolio, will resume on 10 May 2021. Dealings in the fund were suspended on 4 December 2019 after a sustained period of withdrawals. The funds will re-open for dealing as of midday on Monday, 10 May 2021. As such, if investors wish to place a buy, sell or switch instruction with M&G to be dealt at 12 noon on the first day of dealing, the instru...
Read more >On 28 April 2021, Fidelity International announced that Angel Agudo, co-portfolio manager of the Fidelity American Special Situations fund, will be leaving the firm on 14 May 2021 for personal reasons. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. Ashish Bhardwaj joined Mr Agudo as co-portfolio manager on the US Value strategy in July 2019 and he will continue as portfolio manager on this fund, together with other funds that are managed using a similar approa...
Read more >We have added JOHCM UK Opportunities to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Fund snapshot This is a concentrated UK equity fund that draws on the team’s philosophy of investing in companies with sustainably strong cashflows and growth characteristics. The team regards the permanent impairment of capital as the key risk to investors and in this sense, the managers run the fund with an absolute mindset, rather than a benchmark-relative mindset. Within its sector, the fund feature...
Read more >On 21 April 2021, Royce & Associates, LP (a subsidiary of Franklin Resources which conducts its business primarily under the name Royce Investment Partners (Royce)), announced that portfolio managers William Hench, Robert Kosowsky and Suzanne Franks, as well as analyst Adam Mielnik, resigned from Royce on 20 April 2021. As a result, we have removed the Legg Mason Royce US Small Cap Opportunity fund from our Recommended list. Boniface “Buzz” Zaino, who originally developed the strate...
Read more >On 30 March 2021, First Sentier Investors announced that, following a review, it had taken the decision (subject to approval by the Financial Conduct Authority) to close the First Sentier Diversified Growth fund (a sub-fund of First Sentier Investors ICVC). This decision is relevant to the UK OEIC only and the Multi Asset Solutions team will continue to offer products and segregated mandates in other jurisdictions. The firm expects to close the fund before the end of 2021. As a result of ...
Read more >We have removed Fidelity Emerging Europe, Middle East & Africa from our Recommended list. Although we continue to have high regard for the fund and the resources that are dedicated to the emerging market franchise at Fidelity International, we have concluded that the strategy is of limited appeal to our core audience. For this reason, we have decided to remove the fund from the service. The strategy was developed and launched by Nick Price in 2005. He is the lead portfolio manager ...
Read more >We have added Artemis Corporate Bond to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Fund snapshot A relatively concentrated portfolio of global investment grade corporate bonds managed in a pro-active and flexible manner. The portfolio may include off-benchmark positions in high yield, government bonds and cash. Within its sector, the fund features in our ‘High conviction’ category. Please see our IA Sector Overview for more information. Fund description – key points The ...
Read more >We have added Liontrust European Growth to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Fund snapshot This is a European equity fund managed with a focus upon cash flows and the forensic analysis of company reports and accounts. It is bottom-up in nature and its composition changes through time in response to the managers’ objective assessments of company profitability. Within its sector, the fund features in our ‘Larger-Cap, Blend’ category. Please see our IA Sector Overview for ...
Read more >Following the completion of Jupiter Fund Management’s acquisition of Merian Global Investors in July 2020, Merian’s funds are being re-branded to Jupiter on the 15 February 2021. The rebrand affects three Merian funds featured within The Adviser Centre, namely: Existing Name New Name Merian UK Alpha Jupiter UK Alpha Merian UK Mid Cap Jupiter UK Mid Cap Merian UK Smaller Companies Jupiter UK Smaller Companies The investment philosophies and approaches of th...
Read more >On 16 December 2020, Invesco announced that Paul Chesson, Head of Japanese Equities and co-manager of the Invesco Japan Fund (UK), will be leaving the firm at the end of the year. As a result, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. Invesco recently completed a review of the scope, capabilities and current state of funds managed out of the Henley Investment Centre. As part of this, the firm has decided to disband the Henley-based Japanese Equities team. The management of the...
Read more >On 4 December 2020, Jupiter Asset Management announced that Alastair Gunn, co-manager of the Jupiter Distribution fund, will be leaving the firm. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. Jupiter’s Multi-Asset team, led by Head of Strategy, Talib Sheikh, will take over the management of the Jupiter Distribution fund. Existing co-manager, Rhys Petheram, currently responsible for the fixed income portion of the fund, will work alongside Mr Sheikh and th...
Read more >We have moved the Schroder Global Recovery fund to The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Positive Watch list. Fund snapshot A global equity fund that is managed with a disciplined, value style. The approach is based upon identifying companies that have suffered a significant operational and/or share price setbacks but have the potential to recover over time. Within its sector, the fund features in our 'All-Cap, Value' category. Fund descripti...
Read more >We have moved the M&G Global Listed Infrastructure fund to The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. The fund previously featured on our Positive Watch list. Fund snapshot A specialist global equity fund with a sole focus on investing in companies with high quality infrastructure assets, with a view to delivering sustainable income and capital growth over the long term. The approach is stock specific, focusing on a company's capital discipline and long-term growth potential. Within its ...
Read more >We have added Goldman Sachs Japan Equity Partners to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Fund snapshot This is a focused, larger-cap, benchmark-agnostic Japanese equity portfolio which favours companies that demonstrate sustainable and growing business models. The highly experienced Tokyo-based team is led by Ichiro Kosuge, who has been investing in growth stocks for over three decades. Within its sector, the fund features in our ‘Larger-Cap, Growth’ category. Please see our ...
Read more >On 16 September 2020, Legal & General Investment Management announced that it intends to lift the temporary suspension of dealing in the Legal & General UK Property fund and the Legal & General UK Property Feeder fund on 13 October 2020. The funds were suspended on a temporary basis on 18 March 2020 following the deployment of a material uncertainty clause by the independent property valuer, Knight Frank LLP. This meant the valuer was unable to provide an appropriate level o...
Read more >We have added Fidelity European to our Recommended list. The fund is managed by seasoned equity investor, Sam Morse, who started his investment career in 1986 and has worked at Fidelity for many years. At the heart of his approach is the belief that companies that grow their dividends consistently and have good structural growth prospects are well positioned to outperform the wider market over time. Process-wise, the focus is upon company fundamentals, cash generation, balance sheets and...
Read more >In September 2020, First State Investments is rebranding to First Sentier Investors. This change is part of a plan to unify the corporate brand following the acquisition of First State Investments by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation in 2019. First Sentier Investors remains a stand-alone global asset management business and is the home of Stewart Investors and FSSA Investment Managers. There is no change to the branding of these teams, or to the way in which they work. However...
Read more >On 9 September 2020, Columbia Threadneedle announced that it intends to lift the temporary suspension of dealing in the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment Fund (PAIF) and its feeder fund, Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust, on 17 September 2020. The fund temporarily suspended dealing on 18 March 2020 following the deployment of a material uncertainty clause by the fund’s independent property valuer, CBRE. This meant the valuer was unable to provide an appropriate level ...
Read more >We have added Nomura Funds Japan High Conviction to our Recommended list. As its name indicates, this is a concentrated Japanese equity fund that is managed with high conviction and with a clear focus upon strong and growing companies. It is managed by Nomura Asset Management’s Tokyo-based Japanese equity team. Head of the Japan Equity Active Growth team, Shintaro Harada, co-manages the fund with Masahiko Inudoh, and they work alongside one of the largest on-the-ground research teams i...
Read more >We have moved the Franklin UK Mid Cap fund from our Established list to our Positive Watch list. In January 2020, Franklin Templeton announced that Paul Spencer, Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst in the Franklin UK Equity Team, will retire at the end of September 2020. Mr Spencer was the lead manager of the Franklin UK Mid Cap fund and this role has now been passed to Richard Bullas, who was previously a deputy on the fund alongside fellow team-member, Mark Hall. The UK Equity Team,...
Read more >On 15 June 2020, M&G announced that Fiona Rowley has decided to step down as co-manager of the M&G Property Portfolio/M&G Feeder of Property Portfolio and leave the firm. The fund is featured on our Recommended list, although dealing is currently suspended (please see below). In line with the firm’s succession plan, co-manager Justin Upton, who has worked with Ms Rowley for the last eight years, will assume full fund management responsibility following a comprehensive handover. ...
Read more >On 11 June 2020, Jupiter Asset Management announced the full outline of its future product range following its acquisition of Merian Global Investors, for which Jupiter Asset Management is awaiting regulatory approval. As a result of this news, we have removed Merian Corporate Bond from our Positive Watch list and Merian Europe (ex UK) Smaller Companies from our Recommended list. Merian Corporate Bond This fund is currently co-managed by Lloyd Harris and Simon Prior. Post-acquisition, Har...
Read more >On 18 May 2020, Jupiter Asset Management announced that Cédric de Fonclare, manager of the Jupiter European Special Situations fund, has decided to leave the firm. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. Fund management responsibilities will be transferred to Mark Nichols and Mark Heslop, who joined Jupiter last year to run the Jupiter European fund and its SICAV equivalent. This fund features on our Positive Watch list (see our Bulletin of 17 Octobe...
Read more >On 15 May 2020, Invesco announced that Mark Barnett, Co-Head of the UK Equity team and manager of a number of UK equity strategies, including the Invesco Income fund, is leaving the firm. As a result of the news, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. At the same time, Invesco announced wide-ranging changes to its UK equity product range and investment management team, following a review overseen by Chief Investment Officer, Stephanie Butcher. With regard to the investment t...
Read more >On 17 April 2020, Ninety One (formerly Investec Asset Management*) announced that Alastair Mundy is taking an extended leave of absence for health reasons. As a result of this news, we have removed Investec UK Special Situations and Investec Cautious Managed from our Recommended list. During this time, team colleagues Alessandro Dicorrado and Steve Woolley will become co-managers of these funds. They have managed the Global Special Situations fund since January 2016 according to the team'...
Read more >On 1 April 2020, BlackRock announced that Andrew Swan, Head of Emerging Market Equities for the Fundamental Equity division of BlackRock’s Active Equity Group, and co-manager of the BlackRock Asia fund, is leaving the firm later in April 2020. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. BlackRock has a well-resourced team of fund managers and analysts covering Asian and emerging markets. Gordon Fraser and Stephen Andrews will become Co-Heads of the Glob...
Read more >On 26 March 2020, BNY Mellon Investment Management (BNY Mellon) announced that the manager of the BNY Mellon Global Income fund, Nick Clay, will be leaving Newton Investment Management (a boutique of BNY Mellon), together with co-manager, Andrew MacKirdy, and two analysts. The fund features on our Recommended list. Ilga Haubelt, currently the head of Newton’s equity opportunities team, will be taking over as head of the firm’s equity income investing team and will join the global equity...
Read more >Temporary suspension of trading On 18 March 2020, Columbia Threadneedle and L&G Unit Trust Managers Ltd both announced a temporary suspension of trading in the shares of the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment Fund (PAIF) and its feeder fund, the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust, and Legal & General UK Property and its feeder fund, Legal & General UK Property Feeder. Why has this occurred? The UK commercial property market is experiencing unprecedented ci...
Read more >We have removed Legg Mason ClearBridge Aggressive Growth from our Recommended list. This is a specialist, all-cap US equity fund that invests in companies that are deemed to have above average, defensible growth prospects. Whilst seeking growth, the managers believe that the price paid is critical to the value creation for investors. This, combined with a willingness to be contrarian, reinforces the fund’s idiosyncratic nature. The managers’ stylised approach, together with the con...
Read more >Following the announcement that Steve Davies, Head of Strategy, UK Growth and manager of Jupiter UK Growth, is leaving the firm, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. Mr Davies will remain at Jupiter Asset Management until June 2020. In his stead, Christopher Smith is joining the firm in June to take over the management of the UK Growth fund. He joins from Newton Investment Management, where he has been managing the Newton UK Opportunities fund. Equities analyst, James Moi...
Read more >We have added Schroder Strategic Credit to our Recommended list. Fund manager, Peter Harvey, has managed the fund since its launch in 2006 and joined Schroders as part of the acquisition of Cazenove Capital in 2013. He is an experienced fixed income manager and a member of Schroders’ extensive European Credit team. The fund is a flexible fixed income offering, with the manager seeking to generate income without putting the capital of the fund at undue risk over the long term. With th...
Read more >On 18 February 2020, Franklin Resources, Inc, a global investment management organisation operating as Franklin Templeton, announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Legg Mason, Inc (Legg Mason). The proposed acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and approval by Legg Mason’s shareholders, and is expected to close no later than the third calendar quarter of 2020. The combined entity will create a gl...
Read more >On the 17 February 2020, the board of Jupiter Fund Management plc (Jupiter) announced that it has agreed a transaction to acquire Merian Global Investors Ltd (MGI). The proposed acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval and Jupiter shareholder approval, is expected to complete in the second half of 2020. MGI will now commence discussions with Jupiter on integration plans relating to the wider investment management team. For now, the two firms have indicated that there are no...
Read more >We have added JPM Asia Growth to our Recommended list. The fund offers investors a high conviction Asian equity portfolio, through which the managers have an unswerving focus upon quality franchises with structural growth features. It is managed by Joanna Kwok and Mark Davids, who are regional portfolio managers in JP Morgan Asset Management’s Emerging Markets and Asia Pacific team. Philosophically, they believe that companies with sustainable/improving returns on capital and good mana...
Read more >We have moved the Schroder US Mid Cap fund from Established to Recommended. The fund was previously placed on our Established list because the size of the strategy’s asset base had grown to the point that the firm had stopped marketing the fund. As part of their ongoing review process, Schroders now believes that the strategy has headroom to grow its assets under management. Therefore, in discussion with Schroders, we have moved the fund to our Recommended list. The fund is managed b...
Read more >We have moved the Liontrust UK Smaller Companies from Recommended to Established. As part of on-going monitoring of liquidity and capacity, Liontrust believes the fund has grown to a size that brings it close to the firm’s assessment of full capacity. As a result, the business has ceased marketing the fund actively. Therefore, in discussion with Liontrust, and taking into consideration the portfolio’s size in the context of the asset class and its liquidity, we have decided to move the ...
Read more >We have added BNY Mellon Long-Term Global Equity to our Recommended list. The fund is an index-agnostic, global equity proposition, where the focus is upon companies with the potential to generate meaningful real rates of return over the long term. It resides in the IA Global sector. It is managed by Walter Scott & Partners Ltd, one of BNY Mellon Investment Management’s specialist asset managers. The business has retained its distinctive investment culture, which is founded ...
Read more >Following a review of the IA Global Equity Income sector, we have removed Lazard Global Equity Income from the Recommended list. This is a long-standing fund in the context of the sector and is managed according to Lazard’s established approach of seeking out financially productive companies. For this mandate, the team targets a yield of 5% and therefore, there is an additional focus upon companies with high and sustainable dividend streams. This is a solid and thoughtful approach for ...
Read more >On the 7 January 2020, Franklin Templeton announced that Paul Spencer, lead manager of the Franklin UK Mid Cap fund and co-lead manager of the Franklin UK Managers’ Focus and Franklin UK Smaller Companies funds, will retire on 30 September 2020. The Franklin UK Equity team is based in Leeds and it was formerly part of Rensburg Fund Management, which was acquired by Franklin Templeton in 2011. The team is led by Colin Morton, Vice President and Portfolio Manager and includes the following ...
Read more >Temporary suspension of dealing On 4th December 2019, M&G Investments (M&G) announced a temporary suspension of dealing in the shares of M&G Property Portfolio and its feeder fund, M&G Feeder of Property Portfolio. M&G has taken this step because redemptions have risen materially due to continued political uncertainty and an ongoing structural shift in the UK retail sector. They believe that a temporary suspension in dealing will enable the fund managers to raise ...
Read more >We have added Investec Global Gold to our Recommended list. The fund invests in the equity of companies involved in the mining and production of gold and precious metals and it resides in the IA Specialist sector. Investec Asset Management has a strong heritage in commodity and resources investing. This fund is managed by George Cheveley, portfolio manager and metals and mining specialist. He leads the global gold strategy, working closely with analysts Daniel Sacks and Sam Anthony. ...
Read more >Following the announcement that Duncan Goodwin, Head of Global Resources and co-manager of Baring Global Resources, is leaving the firm, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. Barings has a strong heritage in the management of dedicated resources funds. Mr Goodwin had managed the Baring Global Resources fund since 2014, working closely with James Govan and Clive Burstow, members of Barings’ specialist global resources team. Going forward, Clive Burstow will co-manage the fu...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 2nd October 2019, we have moved the Jupiter European fund to our Positive Watch list. The fund previously featured on our Established list. In April 2019, it was announced that the previous manager, Alexander Darwall, would be leaving the firm (see our Bulletin). The fund was formally handed to the new managers, Mark Nichols and Mark Heslop, on 1st October 2019. They joined from Columbia Threadneedle, where they worked tog...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 2nd October 2019, we have added Jupiter Japan Income to our Recommended list. Jupiter Japan Income is a core-growth Japanese equity fund that offers a yield premium compared to the market. Philosophically, the manager, Dan Carter, believes that equity has value because of the potential for future dividend distributions provided to shareholders. Therefore, his efforts are focused upon the search for companies with both the abil...
Read more >On 26th September 2019, Stewart Investors announced the departure of Ashish Swarup, co-manager of the Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Leaders fund. Following this news, the fund remains on our Established list. The fund was co-managed by Ashish Swarup and Tom Prew. Following this news, Tom Prew will continue to manage the fund alongside Chris Grey, an existing member of the team who has been promoted from an investment analyst role. Mr Prew joined Stewart Investors in 2006 ...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 21st August 2019, we have added the Nomura Funds Global Dynamic Bond fund to our Recommended list. Residing in the IA £ Strategic Bond sector*, the fund is invested flexibly with the aim of maximising total return in global fixed income markets. Combining a very broad investment mandate with a dynamic asset allocation approach, the manager, Dickie Hodges, seeks to achieve the objectives of yield generation ahead of cash and the...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 21st August 2019, we have added Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio to our Recommended list. The co-portfolio managers of the fund, Basak Yavuz and Hiren Dasani, seek growth opportunities in emerging markets using a stock-driven process that considers opportunities from across the market cap spectrum. Philosophically, they believe that opportunities are best captured using a valuation-focused approach and therefore t...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 21st August 2019, we have added the M&G North American Dividend fund to our Positive Watch list. The fund is managed by John Weavers, an established member of the M&G Income team. He is supported by Stuart Rhodes (head of team and deputy manager), Alex Araujo and dedicated analysts, Chris Youl and San Tung Nguyen. It was launched in April 2015, although the team has been managing a range of portfolios that are underpin...
Read more >On 2nd August 2019, BNY Mellon Investment Management announced that Iain Stewart will be retiring in December 2019. Following this news, the BNY Mellon Real Return fund remains on our Recommended list. Mr Stewart joined Newton Investment Management (one of BNY Mellon Investment Management’s specialist asset managers) in 1985 and he is the original architect of the Real Return Strategy. He became manager of the fund in 2004 and has overseen the strategy and the team as it has flourish...
Read more >On the 7th August 2019, Aberdeen Standard Investments changed the names of the majority of their UK funds, generally to include the “ASI” prefix at the beginning of each UK fund name, in place of “Aberdeen” or “Standard Life Investments”. Aberdeen Asset Management PLC and Standard Life plc merged in 2017 to create Standard Life Aberdeen plc. The Group’s investment business is known as Aberdeen Standard Investments. Two years on, the firm is aligning the names of their UK ...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 29th July 2019, ASI Asia Pacific Equity has been moved to our Recommended list. The fund was previously featured on our Established list. Previously, following several years of strong flows into the Asia Pacific ex Japan equity strategy, Aberdeen Asset Management ceased its active marketing of the fund in order to preserve the integrity of the investment approach. For this reason, the fund has been featured on our Established lis...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 26th June 2019, Threadneedle Global Focus has been added as a Recommended fund. Threadneedle Global Focus is a concentrated, larger-cap global equity fund with distinct quality and growth characteristics. It is managed by David Dudding, a seasoned quality growth investor who built an impressive track record in European equities before extending his skill set into global equities. A Luxembourg-based version of the strategy was set u...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 26th June 2019, Jupiter Strategic Bond fund has been added as a Recommended fund. Jupiter Strategic Bond is managed by Ariel Bezalel, Head of Strategy, Fixed Income, at Jupiter Asset Management. Mr Bezalel joined Jupiter in 1997 and, prior to the launch of this fund in 2008, he managed the fixed income portions of the multi-asset mandates at the firm. Philosophically, the manager believes that a flexible, unconstrained mandate is ...
Read more >On 10th June 2019, First State Investments confirmed that Helene Williamson, Head of Emerging Market Debt and a manager on the First State Emerging Markets Bond fund, will be leaving the firm later in the year. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. First State Investments has an established Emerging Market and Asia Fixed Income team, headed by Jamie Grant. The process is team based and disciplined and the portfolio managers work c...
Read more >On the 10th June 2019, BNY Mellon Investment Management is rebranding its entire UK-domiciled fund range, which consists of eight boutiques, including Newton, as part of a global branding review. The firm’s aim is to create a simplified brand strategy in the UK, as well as aligning the UK with the other markets in which the firm operates. The rebrand affects two funds that are featured on our Recommended list, namely: Existing Name Newton Global Income Newton Real Return New N...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 29th May 2019, Legal & General Multi-Asset Target Return fund was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Launched in March 2015, this is a diversified fund that invests across asset classes, sectors, currencies, interest rates, inflation and volatility instruments, blending complementary sources of returns and portfolio insurance strategies. It is managed with the aim of generating a gross return of the UK base rate +...
Read more >On 1st April 2019, Columbia Threadneedle announced the departure of Mark Nichols, co-manager of the Threadneedle European Select fund. Following this news, the fund remains on our Recommended list. The fund was co-managed by Mr Nichols and David Dudding. Following this news, David Dudding continues as the senior portfolio manager, with team-member Benjamin Moore joining him as co-manager and Sohil Chotai working closely with them as an analyst. Mr Dudding joined the firm i...
Read more >On 1st April 2019, Jupiter announced a forthcoming change to the management team of the Jupiter European fund. The fund continues to feature on our Established list. The current manager of the fund, Alexander Darwall, is stepping back from the management of Jupiter European (and its Luxembourg-domiciled sister fund) during the second half of 2019. He will remain with the firm but will focus his attentions on the Jupiter European Opportunities Trust and segregated institutional mandate...
Read more >On 29th March 2019, J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) announced that James Elliot, International CIO and co-manager on the JP Morgan Global Macro Opportunities fund, has left the company. As a result of this news, we have decided to remove the fund from our Recommended list. Existing co-manager, Shrenick Shah, has been promoted to lead manager. Mr Shah is an established member of JPMAM’s Multi-Asset Solutions team, which will now report to Rob O’Rahilly, Co-Head of Multi-Asset Sol...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 27th February 2019, we have added Legg Mason IF Martin Currie Emerging Markets as a Recommended fund. This emerging market equity fund is characterised by high-conviction stock picking. It is managed by Kim Catechis, Divya Mathur and Alastair Reynolds from Martin Currie’s office in Edinburgh. Philosophically, they believe that markets often mis-price economic value creation and that by emphasising fundamental research and cr...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 27th February 2019, we have added Orbis OEIC Global Balanced (Standard) as a Recommended fund. The fund resides in the IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector and it has a distinctive approach to managing a “balanced” mandate. There is no set asset allocation framework and the composition of the fund is a function of the bottom-up security selection process. Supporting this approach, each company’s capital structure is ...
Read more >Following the announcement that Mike Amey is retiring at the end of June 2019, we have removed PIMCO Select UK Income Bond fund from our Recommended list. The PIMCO Select UK Income Bond fund is part of a suite of income-orientated bond funds offered by PIMCO. Mr Amey is responsible for sterling portfolios and has managed the PIMCO Select UK Income bond fund since 2011, working closely with sterling credit manager, Ketish Pothalingam. The income suite includes, Eve Tournier, who manages E...
Read more >Following the announcement that Andrew Rose is retiring from the industry at the end of June 2019, we have removed Schroder Tokyo from our Recommended list. Back-up manager, Masaki Taketsume, will assume formal responsibility for the fund from 1st July 2019. He will be supported by Nathan Gibbs, who is Investment Director for Japanese Equities and a long-standing member of the team. As part of the succession plan, Mr Taketsume has been working with Mr Rose for a number of years; he reloc...
Read more >On 18th January 2019, Schroders announced that Jenny Jones, fund manager and Head of US Small Cap and SMID Equities, is planning to retire at the end of March 2019. She is co-manager of the Schroder US Mid Cap and Schroder US Smaller Companies. Her successor will be Bob Kaynor, who will be promoted to Head of US Small Cap and SMID Equities. Mr Kaynor joined Schroders in 2013, working closely with Ms Jones as Director of Small and SMID Cap Research. He was appointed co-manager of th...
Read more >Following our further research, we have decided to move the Fidelity Strategic Bond fund to our Positive Watch list. The fund previously featured on our Recommended list. In our bulletin of 2nd October 2018, we communicated the news that Ian Spreadbury, senior portfolio manager within the Fidelity Fixed Income team and co-manager of this fund, would be retiring at the end of 2018. In addition, Fidelity announced that Charles McKenzie, Chief Investment Officer for Fixed Income, woul...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 4th January 2019, we have added Legal & General High Income Trust as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by Martin Reeves, Head of Global High Yield at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). He works closely with the regional portfolio managers; Tom Huggins (US), Darrell Chan (emerging markets) and John Ryan (Europe). They benefit from LGIM’s well-resourced and experienced global fixed income team. The t...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 28th November 2018, we have removed Merian UK Equity from our Recommended list. The fund resides in our “Larger-Cap, Blend” category and it is managed by Simon Murphy. As a macro-aware investor, he is sensitive to changing market conditions and tilts portfolio positioning accordingly. This, together with his willingness to express high conviction views, means that the fund’s performance can be out of step with the market. ...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 28th November 2018, we have added M&G Global Listed Infrastructure to our Positive Watch list. The fund is managed by Alex Araujo, who has more than twenty years of experience in equity and listed infrastructure investment. He is a member of M&G’s Income team, which is led by Stuart Rhodes, and is also co-deputy manager of the M&G Global Dividend fund. Although the fund is relatively young (launched in October 20...
Read more >Following news of several departures from Kames Capital’s fixed income team, we have removed Kames Investment Grade Bond, Kames High Yield Bond and Kames Strategic Bond from The Adviser Centre. Kames Investment Grade Bond and Kames High Yield Bond featured on our Recommended list, while Kames Strategic Bond featured on our Positive Watch list. Four members of the team have departed the business: Co-head of fixed income, Stephen Snowden. He was co-manager of Kames Investment Grade...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 31st October 2018, Fidelity Asia was added to the service as a Recommended fund. The manager, Teera Chanpongsang, joined Fidelity in 1994 and has managed Asian equity strategies since 1998. He took responsibility for the Fidelity Asia fund in 2014 and he is supported by the firm’s well-resourced team of regionally-located portfolio managers and analysts. The manager seeks to identify companies that are trading at a discount to hi...
Read more >On 7th November 2018, Aberdeen Standard Investments announced some important changes to the Multi-Asset Investing Team, affecting Standard Life Investments Global Absolute Return Strategies (GARS). The fund features on our Established list. In summary: Guy Stern, currently Head of the Multi-Asset Investing Team (MAIT), is to retire in 2019. Mr Stern joined Standard Life Investments more than ten years ago and was instrumental in establishing and building GARS and the associated...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 1st October 2018, Merian UK Smaller Companies has been moved to our Established list. As part of Merian Global Investors’ on-going monitoring of liquidity and capacity, the management believes that the fund has grown to a size that brings it close to their assessment of full capacity. As a result, the business has ceased marketing the fund actively. Therefore, in discussion with Merian Global Investors, and taking into considera...
Read more >On 1st October 2018, Fidelity announced that senior portfolio manager, Ian Spreadbury, is planning to retire at the end of the year. Mr Spreadbury is a named manager on three funds featured within The Adviser Centre. We are retaining all three funds on our Recommended list. From 1st January 2019, the new fund management teams will be as follows: Fidelity MoneyBuilder Income: Sajiv Vaid (lead manager), Kris Atkinson (co-manager) Currently, the fund is co-managed by Ian Spread...
Read more >As announced in July 2018, Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) has re-branded and the business is now known as Merian Global Investors (MGI). This re-brand follows the acquisition of the business by the OMGI management team together with funds managed by the private equity firm, TA Associates. We feature six funds offered by the business within The Adviser Centre and the names changes are as follows: Old Mutual Corporate Bond becomes Merian Corporate Bond Old Mutual Europe (ex UK...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 29th August 2018, Man GLG Undervalued Assets has been moved to our Established list. Previously, the fund featured on our Recommended list. As part of Man GLG’s on-going monitoring of liquidity and capacity, the management believes that the fund has grown to a size that brings it close to their assessment of full capacity. As a result, the business has ceased marketing the fund actively. Therefore, in discussion with Man GLG, a...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 29th August 2018, Polar Capital Global Technology has been moved to our Established list. Previously, the fund featured on our Recommended list. As part of Polar Capital’s on-going monitoring of liquidity and capacity, the management believes that the fund has grown to a size that brings it close to their assessment of full capacity. As a result, the business has ceased marketing the fund actively. Therefore, in discussion with...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 29th August 2018, we have removed Absolute Insight Emerging Market Debt from the service. We have taken this action after discussions with the manager, Colm McDonagh, about the challenges of running an absolute return mandate in this asset class. In particular, he noted that the implementation of short positions can be imperfect because of cost and efficiency issues. That said, the team continues to manage the fund with a view to ach...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 25th July 2018, RWC Global Horizon was added to the service as a Recommended fund. RWC Global Horizon is managed by experienced investor, Louise Keeling, and she is assisted by a dedicated analyst team. Their approach is to focus upon the capital cycle for companies and sectors, with key areas of focus being industry consolidation, changes in company managements and share price underperformance. They argue that compelling opportuni...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 27th June 2018, TwentyFour Corporate Bond was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Chris Bowie manages the fund and he joined TwentyFour Asset Management, an investment boutique of Vontobel Asset Management, in 2014. He is a Partner of the firm and leads the Outcome Driven team. He is assisted in the management of the fund by Gordon Shannon, who previously worked with him at Ignis Asset Management. Mr Bowie’s pri...
Read more >Following the news that Hanré Rossouw, co-manager of the Investec Global Gold fund, has decided to leave the firm, we have removed the fund from our Recommended List. Co-manager, George Cheveley, remains in place and there will be no change to the investment approach or the objectives of the fund. Furthermore, Investec has indicated that there is no intention to replace Mr Rossouw in the short term. Mr Cheveley will continue to work closely with analysts, Daniel Sacks and Sam Anthony...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on the 30th May 2018, Legg Mason IF Japan Equity has been moved to our Established list. The fund previously featured on our Recommended list. As part of an ongoing review of markets, risk and capacity, Legg Mason Investment (Europe) Ltd and Shiozumi Asset Management believe that the fund has grown to a size that is close to their assessment of full capacity. As a result, Legg Mason has ceased marketing the fund actively. Therefore,...
Read more >Following the news on 8th June 2018 that Matthew Vaight, manager of the M&G Asian and M&G Global Emerging Markets funds, has decided to leave the firm, we have removed both funds from our Recommended list. Mr Vaight intends to remain with the firm until late 2018 and will continue in his fund management duties, as well as assist in the transition to new managers. The new fund management structure has been drawn from the existing team-members, as follows: Alastair Bruce will bec...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting held on 25th April 2018, we decided to add Schroder Global Recovery to our Positive Watch list. The fund is co-managed by Kevin Murphy, Nick Kirrage and Andrew Lyddon. Messrs Murphy and Kirrage head Schroder’s Global Value team, having joined the firm in 2000 and 2001 respectively. They are two of the more experienced value investors in the industry and they have managed a range of value and income-orientated portfolios over t...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 25th April 2018, we have moved Montanaro UK Income to the Recommended list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Positive Watch list. The fund is managed by Charles Montanaro, founder of Montanaro Asset Management. Mr Montanaro has deep experience of smaller company markets and is supported by a sizeable and multi-national team of specialists. As a Positive Watch list fund, we cited a number of reasons why we w...
Read more >On 9th May 2018, BlackRock announced that Andreas Zoellinger, co-manager of BlackRock Continental European Income, will assume full responsibility for the fund. Alice Gaskell, current co-manager of the fund, has decided to leave BlackRock to take a break from fund management. Ms Gaskell and Mr Zoellinger have co-managed the fund since its inception in 2011. Mr Zoellinger also co-manages a number of the firm’s European equity and European equity income mandates, having worked at BlackRoc...
Read more >In February 2018, Columbia Threadneedle Investments announced that Don Jordison, Managing Director of Threadneedle’s property business and co-manager of the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment Trust/ Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust (Feeder Fund), would be retiring on 1st May 2018. Henceforth, Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment / Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust (Feeder Fund) is managed by Gerry Frewin, lead manager, and Chris Morrogh, deputy manage...
Read more >In October 2017, Baillie Gifford announced that Sarah Whitley, Head of the Japanese Equities team and co-manager of the Baillie Gifford Japanese fund, would be retiring on 30th April 2018. Therefore, Baillie Gifford Japanese is now managed by Matthew Brett. Mr Brett has worked alongside Sarah Whitley as co-manager of the fund since 2008. He is a member of the group’s well-established and well-resourced Japanese Equities team, which includes investment managers, Iain Campbell and Pra...
Read more >On 26th April 2018, AXA IM announced that Nigel Thomas, the long-standing lead manager of AXA Framlington UK Select Opportunities, will retire in March 2019. The fund features on our Recommended list. His successor will be Chris St John, manager of the AXA Framlington UK Mid Cap fund, which is also featured within The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. He also manages an offshore fund, the AXA WF Framlington UK fund, which is a multi-cap mandate with a similar remit to AXA Fr...
Read more >Following the news that Jon Mawby, manager of Man GLG Strategic Bond, has left the firm, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. Co-manager Andy Li remains in place and continues to have responsibility for the fund. David Charles, a dedicated risk manager on the fund, also continues to be closely involved with its management. Furthermore, Simon Finch has just been hired as the CIO of Credit at the firm. Mr Finch was previously CIO of CQS, where he was responsible for oversee...
Read more >At The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 5th March 2018, we decided to remove Liontrust Macro UK Growth from our Recommended list. The fund is managed according to a process that identifies long-term themes that the managers believe are powerful drivers of global development and/or change. This results in a portfolio that can display material stock and sector differences compared to the benchmark and sector peers. Indeed, its characteristics have led to cycles of relatively strong...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 5th March 2018, we have removed the Kames UK Equity Absolute Return fund from our Positive Watch list. There have been some recent changes to the fund’s management team. As reported in our bulletin of 6th October 2017, one of the fund’s three co-managers, David Griffiths, left the firm. Existing co-managers, David Pringle and Malcolm McPartlin, continue to manage the fund. At that time, we moved the fund from our Establish...
Read more >At The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 9th February 2018, we agreed to add Schroder US Smaller Companies to our Recommended list and to move Schroder US Mid Cap to our Established list. Schroder US Smaller Companies Schroder US Smaller Companies is co-managed by Head of US Small and SMID Cap Equity, Jenny B Jones, and portfolio manager and Research Director, Robert Kaynor. Ms Jones is an extremely experienced small and mid-cap equity practitioner, having begun her career in...
Read more >On 21st February 2018, First State Investments announced that, following a strategic review, the firm no longer wishes to offer a Global Resources investment proposition. As a result of this news, we have removed the First State Global Resources fund from our Recommended list. Once a formal decision has been taken on how it intends to proceed, the firm will seek regulatory approval for the process of transition or wind-up. In the meantime, Head of Global Resources, Todd Warren, and fun...
Read more >On 20th February 2018, Janus Henderson announced that Chris Burvill, lead manager of the Janus Henderson Cautious Managed fund and Director of UK Equities, is on a period of extended leave for health reasons. Existing co-managers, Stephen Payne, John Pattullo and Jenna Barnard, will continue to the manage the fund. Mr Payne joined Janus Henderson in July 2016, having previously worked at Santander Asset Management where he was responsible for a number of equity mandates. He has been work...
Read more >On 14th February 2018, J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPM) announced that Talib Sheikh, co-manager of the JPM Global Macro Opportunities fund and the JPM Multi-Asset Income fund, has left the company. The following changes have been made to the management teams of the funds: JPM Global Macro Opportunities: existing co-managers, James Elliot and Shrenick Shah, will continue to run the fund. They are members of the Multi-Asset Solutions (MAS) team, which is extremely well-resourced a...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 9th February 2018, Artemis UK Select was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by Ed Legget and he is assisted by Ambrose Faulks. It is an unconstrained and flexibly-managed UK equity fund, that is invested across the market-cap spectrum. Mr Legget joined Artemis in December 2015. Previously, he worked at Standard Life Investments, where he managed a variety of UK equity mandates, including a wel...
Read more >On 6th February 2018, Columbia Threadneedle Investments announced that Don Jordison, Managing Director of Threadneedle’s property business and co-manager of the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment / Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust (Feeder Fund), will be retiring on 1st May 2018. Existing co-manager, Gerry Frewin, will continue as manager after Mr Jordison’s retirement. Mr Frewin joined Threadneedle Investments in 2010 as an investment surveyor and was appointed co-m...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 3rd January 2018, we have added Jupiter Global Emerging Markets to The Adviser Centre as a Positive Watch fund. The fund is managed by Ross Teverson, who is Jupiter’s Head of Strategy, Emerging Markets. Mr Teverson joined Jupiter in 2014 and previously worked at Standard Life Investments, where he managed Asian and global emerging market equity funds. At the heart of the investment philosophy is the belief that the market is inef...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 3rd January 2018, First State Diversified Growth was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. First State Diversified Growth features in the IA Flexible Investment sector and is an outcome-focused, mixed-asset fund where the aim is to deliver a total return of 4% in excess of the UK Retail Price Index (gross of fees) over a rolling 5-year period. The fund is managed by Andrew Harman and he is assisted by Simon Hinrichsen; ...
Read more >On 10th January 2018, it was announced that Donald Phillips, co-manager of the Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond fund, has left the firm.Following this news, we are retaining the Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond fund on our Recommended list.Henceforth, Robert Baltzer, Head of High Yield, will co-manage the fund with Lucy Isles, an investment manager in the High Yield Team. Mr Baltzer is an experienced high yield bond practitioner and has been involved in the management of the fund since 2010. ...
Read more >Janus Henderson has announced a number of changes to its funds as part of the continuing integration plans following the completion of the merger of Janus Capital and Henderson Global Investors. The group has announced that from 15th December 2017, it will rename its fund branding from “Henderson” to “Janus Henderson”. This affects five funds that are currently featured as Recommended within The Adviser Centre, namely: Existing Name Henderson Cautious Managed Henders...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 4th October 2017, Orbis OEIC Global Equity (Standard) was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The heritage of Orbis’ global equity strategy dates back to 1990, when it was launched for the firm’s institutional clients. Both the firm and the strategy have grown significantly since then and the UK OEIC was launched in January 2014. It is managed according to the same collegiate and distinctive approach. Orbis OE...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review meeting on 4th October 2017, we have removed Absolute Insight UK Equity Market Neutral from The Adviser Centre. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Established list. In spite of this decision, we continue to have high regard for the investment team, led by Head of Specialist Equities, Andrew Cawker. Launched in 2007, Absolute Insight UK Equity Market Neutral was offered as a conservative long/short equity fund. Over the...
Read more >On 12th October 2017, GAM announced that Andrew Green, lead manager of the GAM Global Diversified fund, will be handing management responsibility for the fund to Ali Miremadi. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. Mr Green has been involved with the fund since its launch in 1984. He will continue to manage a number of mandates and will provide advice and support to GAM’s equity teams in the new role of director of global equitie...
Read more >At The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 4th October 2017, we decided to move the Kames UK Equity Absolute Return fund to our Positive Watch list. The fund previously featured on our Established list. In our bulletin of 2nd June 2017, we communicated the news that David Griffiths, one of the fund’s three co-managers, had decided to leave the firm. David Pringle and Malcolm McPartlin remain as co-managers and there has been no change to the investment philosophy or the objec...
Read more >Following our further research, at The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 4th October 2017, we decided to move the Kames Strategic Bond fund to our Positive Watch list. The fund previously featured on our Recommended list. In our bulletin of 14th August 2017, we communicated a number of changes to the Kames Capital fixed income team. Two of the previous managers of Kames Strategic Bond, David Roberts and Philip Milburn, have now left Kames Capital, resulting in structural chan...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 30th August 2017, the M&G Emerging Markets Bond fund was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by Claudia Calich, with the assistance of deputy manager, Charles De Quinsonas. Prior to joining M&G in 2013, she worked at Invesco in New York, where she managed a number of emerging market debt portfolios. The fund can invest across the emerging debt market universe, with the manager combining hi...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 30th August 2017, Royal London Sterling Extra Yield Bond was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by Eric Holt, Head of Credit at Royal London Asset Management (RLAM), who has been involved in the management of the fund since its launch. He is a highly-experienced member of RLAM’s fixed income team, where a collegiate investment process is overseen by Jonathan Platt, Head of Fixed Income and Martin...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 31st August 2017, Man GLG Continental European Growth has been added to our Recommended list. The fund is managed by veteran European equity investor, Rory Powe, who joined Man GLG in 2014. Mr Powe has an unwavering commitment to seeking out growth companies in Europe, defined as those that are positioned to preserve their price/earnings multiples, or have scope to expand their multiples through earnings and cash flows. He populat...
Read more >On 4th September 2017, Aberdeen Standard Investments announced that Richard House, Head of Emerging Market Debt and lead manager of the Standard Life Investments Emerging Market Debt fund, has left the company. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from The Adviser Centre's Recommended list. Henceforth, team members Mark Baker and Kieran Curtis (16 and 14 years of investment experience respectively) will be jointly responsible for the portfolio. The merger between Standard L...
Read more >On 10th August 2017, Kames Capital announced that David Roberts, head of fixed income and Phil Milburn, head of fixed income investment strategy, would both be leaving the company. Stephen Snowden, current head of credit, and Adrian Hull, currently a senior fixed income specialist, have been appointed co-heads of fixed income. Kames Strategic Bond fund, Kames Investment Grade Bond fund and Kames High Yield Bond fund currently feature on The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. Below, ...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 24th July 2017, we have moved Aviva Investors Multi-Strategy Target Return to the Recommended list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Positive Watch list. Launched in 2014, this is a diversified fund that is invested across asset classes, sectors, currencies and interest rates, incorporating a blend of return-seeking and risk-reducing strategies. It is managed with the aim of generating a gross return of the UK...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th June 2017, Invesco Perpetual Asian has been moved to our Positive Watch list. The fund previously featured on our Recommended list. In our bulletin of 5th April 2017, we communicated the news that Stuart Parks, Head of Asian Equities and co-manager of the Invesco Perpetual Asian fund, had stepped back from the day-to-day management of the fund. William Lam, who had co-managed the fund with Mr Parks since 2015, became the sol...
Read more >On 5th July 2017, BlackRock announced that Mark Wharrier, Managing Director and co-portfolio manager of the BlackRock UK Income fund, is leaving the firm to pursue another career opportunity. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. Adam Avigdori and David Goldman remain as co-managers and BlackRock has indicated that there is no immediate intention to replace Mr Wharrier. Mr Wharrier was appointed co-manager of the BlackRock UK In...
Read more >Following the news that Vincent Devlin, manager of BlackRock Continental European, is stepping away from portfolio management and research responsibilities, we have removed the fund from The Adviser Centre. Henceforth, Stefan Gries and Giles Rothbarth, both members of BlackRock’s European equity team, headed by Nigel Bolton, have been appointed as portfolio managers on the fund. Mr Gries has 12 years’ experience and is currently co-manager on all portfolios in the strategy except the Blac...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 31st May 2017, we have added Old Mutual Corporate Bond to The Adviser Centre as a Positive Watch fund. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list, but was removed in November 2015 following team changes. Lloyd Harris, who was previously a co-manager on the fund, was appointed to lead manager in December 2015. He is an established member of the credit team, which works closely with the macro, equity and ...
Read more >On the 9th June 2017, First State announced that Dr Joanne Warner, Head of Global Resources and a manager of the First State Global Resources fund, will be retiring in August 2017. Following this news, the fund remains on our Recommended list. Dr Warner joined the company in 1997 and over the past two decades she has built a well-resourced and experienced global resources team. As a result of this announcement, the following changes will take place: With over 15 years of resourc...
Read more >On 8th June 2017, following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review meeting on 31st May 2017, Investec Diversified Income has been added to our Recommended list. The fund resides in the IA Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares sector and is a defensively-managed, mixed-asset vehicle, where the priority is to deliver a sustainable level of income. The annual yield target is between 4% and 6% but this will vary according to market conditions. As well as delivering a defensive return profile and an at...
Read more >On 31st May 2017, Kames Capital announced a change to the fund management team of the Kames UK Equity Absolute Return fund. David Griffiths, one of the three co-managers, has decided to leave the industry and will depart from the firm at the end of July 2017. Kames UK Equity Absolute Return currently features on our Established list and retains its endorsement for the time being. David Pringle and Malcolm McPartlin remain as co-managers and there will be no change to the investment ap...
Read more >On 17th May 2017, following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th April 2017, Investec Global Gold was reinstated to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund was removed from The Adviser Centre in February 2015 following the news that former Head of the Commodities & Resources Investment Team, Bradley George, was changing role within the firm. Mr George was a co-manager on the Investec Global Gold fund alongside Scott Winship, who was also in the process of tra...
Read more >On 10th May 2017, following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review meeting on 28th April 2017, JPM Global Macro Opportunities has been added to our Recommended list. Residing in the IA Targeted Absolute Return sector, JPM Global Macro Opportunities is invested on the basis of macro-economic themes. The aim is to deliver positive returns over time, in varying market environments; the gross annual return target is 7% over cash over the medium term, with an expected annual volatility of below 1...
Read more >Following the news that Prashant Khemka is leaving Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), we have removed Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio and Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio from The Adviser Centre. The Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Positive Watch list and the Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio featured on our Recommended list. Leadership changes Mr Prashant was CIO of Emerging Market Equities at GS...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on the 29th March 2017, Fundsmith Equity has been moved to our Established list. The fund previously featured on our Recommended list. The fund was launched in 2010 and is managed by a small team, headed by the experienced manager Terry Smith. The team has established a clearly-defined investment process, resulting in a fund that is characterised as much by the type of companies, sectors and regions in which the team will not invest, ...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 29th March 2017, Schroder Recovery has been moved to our Established list. The fund is managed by Kevin Murphy and Nick Kirrage and as part of their on-going review of markets and fund capacity, they believe that the portfolio has grown to a size that is close to their assessment of full capacity for the UK strategy. As a result, they have ceased marketing the fund actively. In discussion with Schroders, and taking into the consid...
Read more >Invesco Perpetual has announced that Stuart Parks, Head of Asian Equities and co-manager of the Invesco Perpetual Asian fund, will step down from the day-to-day management of the fund from 1st May 2017. William Lam, who has co-managed the fund with Mr Parks since 2015, will be the sole manager. At the present time, we are retaining the fund on our Recommended list. Mr Lam has been a fund manager on the Asian Equities team at Invesco Perpetual since 2006 and has managed pan-Asian po...
Read more >On the 3rd April 2017, Rathbone Income moved from the IA UK All Companies sector back to the IA UK Equity Income sector. As a reminder, the fund moved to the IA UK All Companies sector in May 2016 because it had failed to meet the Investment Association’s (IA) sector requirement to produce a historic yield on the distributable income in excess of 110% of that of the FTSE All Share index (see bulletin dated 2nd June 2016). This move followed the IA’s consultation with its members e...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 22nd February 2017, we moved the M&G Asian and the M&G Global Emerging Markets funds to the Recommended list. The funds previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Positive Watch list. Both funds are managed by Matthew Vaight, who has been involved with the strategies since their launch in 2008, becoming lead manager in 2012. He works with a small team that includes deputy manager, Alice de Charmoy, and three analysts...
Read more >On the 3rd March 2017, Stewart Investors announced that Angus Tulloch will be retiring on 30th September 2017. Mr Tulloch has been a leading member of the business for almost three decades from the early beginnings at Stewart Ivory. He joined the company in 1998 to establish an Asia Pacific (ex Japan) desk and later, in 1992, the team set up a global emerging markets capability. Mr Tulloch has overseen the business and the team as it has flourished over the years. Stewart Investors...
Read more >On 2nd February 2017, following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review meeting on 18th January 2017, First State Emerging Markets Bond has been added to our Recommended list. Head of Emerging Market Debt, Helene Williamson leads a team of specialist investment managers and analysts. Prior to joining First State in 2011 she worked at F&C Asset Management, where she was Head of Emerging Market Debt for 16 years. The fund invests in emerging market debt with a focus on governments bonds d...
Read more >On 8th December 2016, following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review meeting on 25th November 2016, Royal London Corporate Bond was reinstated to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund was removed from The Adviser Centre in April 2015 following the news that former fund manager, Sajiv Vaid, was to leave Royal London Asset Management (RLAM). At that point, Jonathan Platt, Head of Fixed Income at RLAM, took interim responsibility for the fund while its future management was under...
Read more >On 1st December 2016, following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review meeting on 25th November 2016, Old Mutual Europe (ex UK) Smaller Companies has been added to our Recommended list. The fund is managed by Ian Ormiston, who joined Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) in October 2014 from Ignis Asset Management, where he managed a similar fund. It offers exposure to European companies with market capitalisations below €1 billion. Using a bottom-up approach to managing the fund, Mr Ormist...
Read more >On 28th November 2016, following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review meeting on 25th November 2016, Man GLG UK Select was removed from our Recommended list. The fund had been placed on The Adviser Centre's Recommended list because of its differentiating features compared to most peers, notably, a larger-cap bias and a very active trading approach to managing the fund. Whilst acknowledging that this year’s market circumstances have been challenging for most active managers, we would hav...
Read more >On 16th November 2016, Invesco Perpetual announced that Paul Read, Co-Head of Fixed Income, and one of the co-managers on the Invesco Perpetual Corporate Bond, will step back from being named manager on a number of fixed income funds at the end of December 2016. This includes the Invesco Perpetual Corporate Bond fund, which features on our Established list. It will continue to be managed by existing co-managers, Co-Head of Fixed Income, Paul Causer, and Michael Matthews. Following t...
Read more >On 21st October 2016, M&G Investments (M&G) announced that it intends to lift the temporary suspension in the trading of shares in the M&G Property Portfolio and the M&G Feeder of Property Portfolio. From midday on 4th November 2016: Investors will be able to buy, sell or switch investments in both funds. All sell and buy orders placed with M&G during the period of suspension will be processed on 4th November 2016. This suspension was originally put in...
Read more >We are pleased to inform you that The Adviser Centre has been acquired by the Embark Group with immediate effect. Please find below an extract from the press release. The full press release can be found in the PDF above. “City Financial, founder of The Adviser Centre Limited (‘The Adviser Centre’), has entered into commercial arrangements with the Embark Group, which will see the two entities utilise their complementary capabilities to collaborate in the UK retail financial service...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 8th September 2016, Fidelity American Special Situations was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The manager, Angel Agudo, joined Fidelity in 2005 and took responsibility for the fund in December 2012. He is well-versed in the challenges of investing in US equity markets and his interactions with the global investment and research team provide helpful perspectives. At the heart of the investment philosophy is the be...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre monthly meeting on 8th September 2016, we have removed GAM Star Technology from our Recommended list. The manager’s approach is focused upon small and mid-cap growth companies that are linked to the ongoing growth of digitalisation, implemented through a concentrated, high-conviction portfolio. The fund’s performance history shows that this approach results in a highly variable outcome, with the fund’s risk/return path following its own idiosyncratic cour...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 8th September 2016, we moved the BlackRock Asia fund to the Recommended list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Positive Watch list. Head of Asian Fundamental Equities, Andrew Swan, has managed the fund since its launch in June 2013. While this is a relatively new fund, Mr Swan has been managing the Luxembourg-domiciled BGF Asian Dragon fund since September 2011. He is the key architect of the reinvigorated A...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 8th September 2016, PIMCO Select UK Income Bond was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. PIMCO Select UK Income Bond is managed by Mike Amey, managing director and portfolio manager in PIMCO’s London office. Mr Amey is responsible for sterling portfolios, the European insurance (ex-Germany) and European liability-driven investing portfolio management groups. He joined PIMCO in 2003 and has been involved with the Sel...
Read more >On 12th September 2016, Columbia Threadneedle announced that it intends to lift the temporary suspension of dealing in the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment Fund (PAIF) and its feeder fund, Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust. The firm had previously suspended the fund on 6th July 2016 (see our bulletin). The lifting of the suspension will apply from 26th September 2016, at the 12 noon valuation point. Once the suspension has been lifted, investors will be abl...
Read more >Liontrust has announced that Jan Luthman, a co-manager of the Liontrust Macro UK Growth fund, has retired from fund management. This was effective at the end of August 2016. We have not altered the fund’s Recommended status in response to this change. Stephen Bailey and Jamie Clark will continue to co-manage the fund. Mr Bailey has been involved in the management of the fund from its genesis at Walker Crips Asset Managers in 2002. Mr Clark has worked with Mr Bailey and Mr Luthman ...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 27th July 2016, Schroders US Mid Cap was moved from our Established list to our Recommended list. The fund was originally placed on our Established list as the size of the strategy’s asset based had grown to the point that the fund had been closed for a period. It was re-opened to existing and new investors in 2013, with the firm closely monitoring market liquidity and fund capacity. As part of this ongoing review, Schroders beli...
Read more >On 6th July 2016, Columbia Threadneedle temporarily suspended dealing in the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment Fund (PAIF) and its feeder fund, Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust. Columbia Threadneedle has taken this step because the firm has experienced a significant increase in redemption requests due to the uncertainty engendered by the outcome of the EU referendum. The firm highlights that the temporary suspension of dealing protects the interests of all investor...
Read more >Temporary Suspension of Trading On 5th July 2016, M&G Investments (M&G) announced a temporary suspension of trading in the shares of the M&G Property Portfolio and its feeder fund, M&G Feeder of Property Portfolio. M&G has taken this step because redemptions have risen materially due to the uncertainty engendered by the outcome of the EU referendum. They believe that a temporary suspension in trading will enable the fund manager to raise cash levels in a controlle...
Read more >On 20th June 2016, Artemis announced that Adrian Gosden, one of the co-managers of the Artemis Income fund and the Artemis High Income fund, is leaving the firm this month. Following this news, we are retaining the Artemis Income fund on our Established list and the Artemis High Income fund on our Recommended list. Artemis Income Artemis Income continues to be managed by existing co-managers, Adrian Frost and Nick Shenton. Adrian Frost is a very experienced investor, who began...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 25th May 2016, AXA Framlington UK Select Opportunities has been moved to our Recommended list. The fund originally featured on our Established list because of its relatively large fund size. The fund now has assets of £3.9bn (as at 29th April 2016) and whilst it is still one of the largest funds in the sector, it is now of a more manageable size, with scope to grow. AXA Framlington UK Select Opportunities is run by Nigel Thomas,...
Read more >Conversion details Columbia Threadneedle Investments has announced the conversion of the Threadneedle UK Property Trust to a Property Authorised Investment Fund (PAIF). This structural change occurred on 14th May 2016. The new fund is called the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Investment Fund. There is also a feeder fund called the Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust, which is not subject to the PAIF rules. This fund has been established for those investors who are not eli...
Read more >During May 2016, Montanaro UK Income and Rathbone Income were moved from the IA UK Equity Income sector to the IA UK All Companies sector. This has occurred because both funds failed to meet the Investment Association’s (IA) sector requirement to produce a historic yield on the distributable income in excess of 110% of that of the FTSE All Share index. In April 2016, the IA launched a consultation with its members regarding the UK Equity Income sector’s yield requirements, given the nu...
Read more >On 1st June 2016, Kames Capital announced changes to the fund management team responsible for the Kames High Yield Bond fund. Co-manager, Claire McGuckin, has left Kames Capital and Phil Milburn, who has been on a period of absence due to illness, is returning to the team in the third quarter of 2016. Additionally, David Ennett is joining the high yield team in September 2016 and will be the co-manager of the Kames High Yield Bond fund, alongside Phil Milburn. In the interim period, ...
Read more >On 31st May 2016, it was announced that the lead manager of the Standard Life Investments Higher Income fund and Head of European High Yield, David Ennett, is leaving Standard Life Investments. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. Fraser Duff, an investment director in the Global Credit team, will replace Mr Ennett as lead manager of the fund. Mr Duff has 13 years of investment experience and has been employed at Standard Life I...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 3rd May 2016, we have removed the MI TwentyFour Monument Bond fund (previously called PFS TwentyFour Monument Bond) from The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. Following shareholder approval, the fund has recently expanded its mandate, moving from a primary focus upon residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBSs) in the investment grade space to include securities backed by a wider range of assets (including, but not limited to, comme...
Read more >On 7th April 2016, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 30th March 2016, Legal & General Managed Monthly Income Trust was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by the Mark Benstead, an experienced member of Legal & General Investment Management’s established and well-resourced fixed income team. The fund is a diversified portfolio of primarily investment grade bonds and managed in a risk-aware manner. The manager aims to...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 30th March 2016, Old Mutual UK Smaller Companies has been moved to our Recommended list. The fund originally featured on our Established list because Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) deemed the fund to be close to full capacity. As part of the firm’s on-going review of market liquidity and fund capacity, OMGI believes that the Old Mutual UK Smaller Companies fund has headroom to grow from its current size of £778 million (as at...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 26th February 2016, we moved the JOHCM Global Opportunities fund to the Recommended list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Positive Watch list. Fund manager, Ben Leyland, joined JOHCM in 2006 as a member of the fund management team and worked closely with John Wood on the JOHCM UK Opportunities fund. In June 2012, Messrs Leyland and Wood launched the JOHCM Global Opportunities fund, which utilises the same wel...
Read more >On 22nd February 2016, it was announced that lead manager of the AXA Distribution fund, Richard Marwood, has decided to leave AXA Investment Managers (IM). As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. At the same time, AXA IM has announced some changes to the structure of the Distribution team. Jamie Forbes-Wilson, manager of the AXA Framlington Blue Chip Equity Income fund, will join Jim Stride, Head of Distribution, in the management ...
Read more >On 17th February 2016, following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 5th February 2016, Newton Global Income was reinstated to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund was removed from The Adviser Centre in December 2015 following the news that former fund manager, James Harries, had left the group. The deputy manager, Nick Clay, was given full responsibility for the fund. Mr Clay joined Newton in 2000 and he is an established member of the Global Equity Income tea...
Read more >On 10th February 2016, The Adviser Centre moved the Kames UK Equity Absolute Return fund to the Established list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Recommended List. On the 26th January 2016, Kames Capital announced that it intends to manage flows into its Equity Market Neutral Strategies, which includes the Kames UK Equity Absolute Return fund. While the Kames UK Equity Absolute Return fund remains open, the firm feels it is time to take pre-emptive measures to s...
Read more >On 8th February 2016, following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 5th February 2016, Jupiter Distribution was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund has been co-managed by Alastair Gunn and Rhys Petheram since February 2012. It is a traditional mixed asset fund, typically featuring 70% in bonds and 30% in primarily UK equities. Mr Petheram is an established member of Jupiter's fixed income team, while Mr Gunn has over 25 years of experience in UK equi...
Read more >On 18th January 2016, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 5th January 2016, Franklin UK Managers’ Focus was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. All five portfolio managers in the Franklin UK Equity team are involved in the management of the fund and it is designed to be the purest expression of their best ideas, which are selected from across the market cap spectrum. The fund is divided equally between four of the managers and they select up to 1...
Read more >On 14th December 2015, it was announced that the lead manager of the Newton Global Income fund, James Harries, has left Newton Investment Management. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. Henceforth, deputy manager Nick Clay will have full responsibility for the Newton Global Income fund. Mr Clay is lead manager on the Irish domiciled BNY Mellon Global Equity Income fund and has been a member of the global equity team since 2012. ...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 25th November 2015, Legg Mason Royce US Small Cap Opportunity was moved from our Established list to our Recommended list. The fund was originally placed on our Established list as the size of the strategy’s asset base had grown to the point that the firm had ceased marketing the fund actively. The strategy’s assets under management have now fallen such that there is now material headroom for new investment. Therefore, in discu...
Read more >On 26th November 2015, Old Mutual Global Investors announced a change in management for the Old Mutual Corporate Bond fund. Lloyd Harris, currently co-manager of the fund alongside Christine Johnson, will be the sole manager of the fund from 1st December 2015. He will manage the fund with the aim of delivering steady relative returns from stock selection in investment grade bonds and will work closely with the team in pursuing this aim. We have met with Mr Harris in his co-manager capa...
Read more >Summary of changes On the 9th November 2015, Stewart Investors announced a future change to the named managers of Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders and Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Leaders. Both funds currently feature on our Established list. In summary, Angus Tulloch, co-manager of the Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders fund, and Jonathan Asante, co-manager of the Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Leaders fund, will hand some of their portfolio respons...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th October 2015, Goldman Sachs Growth & Emerging Markets Broad Equity Portfolio was added to The Adviser Centre as a Positive Watch fund. The fund is managed by Prashant Khemka, CIO of Emerging Markets Equities, and his team. He became lead manager of the fund in June 2013 and is also the lead manager of the Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio, which features in our Recommended list. The well-honed philosophy and process t...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th October 2015, Montanaro UK Income was added to The Adviser Centre as a Positive Watch fund. The fund is managed by Charles Montanaro, founder of Montanaro Asset Management. Mr Montanaro has considerable experience in Pan-European smaller company markets and is supported by a sizeable and multi-national team of specialists. Montanaro UK Income has a distinctive growth-orientated investment approach and a focus on mid and small...
Read more >On the 3rd November 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on the 28th October 2015, we moved the BlackRock UK Income fund to the Recommended list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre's Positive Watch list. This long-established fund has been re-invigorated under Mark Wharrier’s stewardship. He joined BlackRock in 2013 to join existing co-manager, Adam Avigdori. Colleague David Goldman has recently become a third co-manager. The three mana...
Read more >Background In March 2015, First State Investments (First State) announced that the First State Stewart team would be dividing in July 2015, creating two separate teams, one based in Hong Kong and the other primarily in Edinburgh. The split became effective on 1st July 2015 and the Edinburgh-based business was renamed Stewart Investors. Stewart Investors is an autonomous unit within the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s global asset management business. On the 2nd November 2015, fun...
Read more >On 2nd November 2015, AXA Investment Managers announced a number of changes to the AXA Framlington Managed Balanced fund. Jamie Hooper is now a co-manager on the fund, alongside existing manager Richard Peirson. Mr Hooper is taking over the responsibility for the UK equity portion of the fund from Mr Peirson and will also work with him on asset allocation decisions. Mr Peirson will retain overall responsibility for the fund’s asset allocation. Additionally: Nick Hayes will have...
Read more >On 8th October 2015, Man GLG announced that the Man GLG Technology Equity fund is to close, as the two lead managers, Phil Pearson and Anthony Burton, will be leaving the firm later this year. In light of this news, we have removed the fund from the Recommended list. Man GLG has indicated that investors in the fund will be offered a free switch into a fund (or funds) of their choosing from within their range. We suggest that holders of the fund contact Man GLG for further information. ...
Read more >On 6th October 2015, it was announced that Rosemary Banyard, Co-Head of the Pan-European Small and Mid Cap team and co-manager of the Schroder UK Smaller Companies fund, is leaving Schroders in March 2016. In the interim period, Ms Banyard will continue to work closely with co-manager Andy Brough. Following Ms Banyard’s departure, Mr Brough will become sole manager of the Schroder UK Smaller Companies fund. There will be no change to the fund’s objective or investment approach. ...
Read more >On 30th September 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 4th September 2015, Aberdeen Strategic Bond was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Co-managed by Roger Webb and Luke Hickmore, the fund is a diversified fixed income offering, through which attractive risk-adjusted returns are sought from strategic asset allocation positioning, credit selection and tactical tilts. In spite of the fund’s unconstrained mandate, the managers are always tho...
Read more >On 18th September 2015, we removed the Artemis UK Growth fund from our Recommended list ahead of a forthcoming manager change. On 23rd June 2015, it was announced that Tim Steer, the current manager of the fund, will retire from the partnership at the end of the year. Ed Legget, formerly the manager of the Standard Life Investments UK Equity Unconstrained fund, is joining Artemis later in the year to take on the management of the fund. We have known Ed Legget for several years and the St...
Read more >On the 17th September 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on the 4th September 2015, we moved the Man GLG Undervalued Assets fund to the Recommended list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre's Positive Watch list. The fund is co-managed by Henry Dixon and Jack Barrat, together with third team-member, Alice Owen. This is a close-knit team and they previously worked together at Matterley (part of Charles Stanley) before joining GLG (now Man GLG) ...
Read more >On 15th September 2015, Kames Capital announced that Phil Milburn, co-manager of the Kames High Yield Bond fund and the Kames Strategic Bond fund, is currently on a temporary period of absence due to health issues. Mr Milburn is expected to resume his full responsibilities in early 2016. Kames Capital has a well-resourced and experienced fixed income team, with an investment approach that emphasises teamwork. With regard to the Kames High Yield Bond fund, co-manager Claire McGuckin will...
Read more >Following the re-opening of the Man GLG Japan CoreAlpha fund, we have moved the fund to our Recommended list from our Established list. The fund was moved to our Established list in October 2014 after GLG (now Man GLG) announced its intention to restrict flows into the fund on the basis of the team’s assets under management and the firm’s assessment of market liquidity. Man GLG has indicated that it now has spare capacity and that it expects the fund to remain fully open for the fore...
Read more >On the 28th August 2015, the Aberdeen High Yield Bond fund changed its name to the Aberdeen European High Yield Bond fund. There is no change to the investment philosophy or approach as a result of the name change. The fund will remain in the IA £ High Yield Bond sector. The fund’s name change is a function of the Aberdeen High Yield Bond fund’s merger with the existing Aberdeen European High Yield Bond fund (previously the SWIP European High Yield Bond fund), which is managed by...
Read more >On the 18th August 2015, GLG funds are being re-branded to Man GLG. The funds were acquired by Man Group plc following its acquisition of GLG Partners, Inc in October 2010. As well as this re-brand, the Authorised Corporate Director (ACD) of the funds, GLG Partners Investment Funds Limited, is changing to Man Fund Management UK Ltd. These changes are a function of the full integration of the funds into the Man product range. The re-brand affects five funds that are featured within T...
Read more >On 12th August 2015, it was announced that Richard Buxton, manager of the Old Mutual UK Alpha fund, has been appointed CEO of Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI). Additionally, Warren Tonkinson has been appointed Managing Director of OMGI and will work with Mr Buxton in the running of the business. We have known Mr Tonkinson for a number of years and he is well versed in the non-investment areas of running the business. Mr Buxton will continue to manage the Old Mutual UK Alpha fund accordi...
Read more >On 29th July 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 1st July 2015, Jupiter UK Special Situations was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by Ben Whitmore, a very experienced UK equity investor. Mr Whitmore joined Jupiter in 2006, having previously worked at Schroder Investment Management, where he ran both retail and institutional mandates. Mr Whitmore has applied the same investment philosophy to managing money for many years...
Read more >On 23rd July 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 1st July 2015, AXA Framlington UK Mid Cap was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by Chris St John, an experienced mid and small-cap investor and an important member of AXA Framlington’s extremely well-established and capable team of UK equity fund managers. Mr St John focuses on identifying companies with strong balance sheets and exceptional long-term growth prospects. ...
Read more >On the 15th July 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 1st July 2015, JPM Multi-Asset Income was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is run by experienced managers Michael Schoenhaut and Talib Sheikh, who are both members of J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Multi-Asset Solutions team, and have been involved in the management of multi-asset strategies for a number of years. It is invested across a wide range of global asset classes and t...
Read more >On the 2nd July 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 1st July 2015, M&G Episode Income was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by Steven Andrew, a member of the experienced Multi Asset team, which is led by Dave Fishwick. It is a mixed asset fund of equities, bonds, property and cash. Mr Andrew seeks to grow the fund’s capital in order to deliver a sustainable and where possible, a rising level of income. The manager...
Read more >On 1st July 2015, BlackRock announced the appointment of Tom Holl as co-manager of the BlackRock Gold & General fund. Mr Holl will work alongside Evy Hambro, the current fund manager and Chief Investment Officer of the Natural Resources Equity team. Mr Holl is an established member of the BlackRock’s Natural Resources Equity team and manages a number of mandates, as well as being responsible for covering the mining and gold sectors. There will be no change to the investment appro...
Read more >On 23rd June 2015, it was announced that Tim Steer, manager of the Artemis UK Growth fund, will retire from the partnership at the end of 2015. Furthermore, on the same day, it was announced the Ed Legget, formerly the manager of Standard Life Investments UK Equity Unconstrained, will be joining Artemis later this year. This fund featured on our Recommended list but was removed on 23rd June 2015 (see our Bulletin). This Bulletin serves to alert our clients of this future change of mana...
Read more >Following the news that Ed Legget, manager of the Standard Life Investments UK Equity Unconstrained fund, is leaving Standard Life Investments (SLI), we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. Wesley McCoy, investment director in the UK equities team, is taking responsibility for the management for the fund with immediate effect. He was previously the manager of the fund from its launch in 2005 until 2008, when Mr Legget was appointed. SLI has confirmed that there will be no cha...
Read more >On 10th June 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th May 2015, Baillie Gifford Japanese was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is co-managed by Sarah Whitley and Matthew Brett. Ms Whitley is an extremely experienced Japanese investor, joining the firm in 1980 and becoming Head of the Japanese Equities Investment Team in 2001. Mr Brett joined her as co-manager in 2008. The team believes that fundamental, proprietary research com...
Read more >On 3rd June 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th May 2015, Artemis Monthly Distribution was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund has been co-managed by James Foster and Jacob de Tusch-Lec since its launch in May 2012. It is a mixed asset fund, typically featuring 60% in bonds and 40% in global equities. Mr Foster has a long track record of investing strategically across fixed income markets, while Mr de Tusch-Lec manages the global...
Read more >On 1st June 2015, BlackRock announced that Ben Edwards, co-manager of BlackRock Corporate Bond, will assume full responsibility for the fund with immediate effect. Simon Blundell, current co-manager of the fund, was promoted to Head of the Sterling Team in January 2015. He will continue to work closely with Mr Edwards in this new position. Mr Edwards has been working closely alongside Mr Blundell as co-manager of the BlackRock Corporate Bond fund since May 2012. There will be no chang...
Read more >On the 27th May 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th April 2015, Invesco Perpetual Distribution was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is run by experienced managers Paul Read and Paul Causer, who have been investing in income-focused strategies for many years and are Co-Heads of Fixed Income at Invesco Perpetual. They are responsible for the fixed income portion of the fund, as well as the fund’s overall construction. Ciaran Mal...
Read more >On the 27th May 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th April 2015, Invesco Perpetual Monthly Income Plus was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is run by experienced managers Paul Read and Paul Causer, longstanding Co-Heads of Fixed Income at Invesco Perpetual. They are responsible for the fixed income portion of the fund, as well as the fund’s overall construction. Ciaran Mallon has been responsible for the equity component of the...
Read more >On the 19th May 2015, and following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th April 2015, Standard Life Investments UK Equity Income Unconstrained was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by Thomas Moore, who joined Standard Life Investments (SLI) in 2002 and is an established member of SLI’s UK Equity team. Philosophically, the manager believes that a flexible approach to income investing can deliver increased income diversification and improve...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th April 2015, BlackRock UK Income was added to The Adviser Centre as a Positive Watch fund. The fund is co-managed by Mark Wharrier and Adam Avigdori, who both work in the Fundamental Equity division of BlackRock’s Alpha Strategies Group. Mr Wharrier is an experienced UK equity manager who re-joined BlackRock in 2013, having begun his career at Mercury Asset Management in 1994. Mr Avigdori joined the UK equity team in 2001 and w...
Read more >Following the news that Philip Nell, manager of Aviva Investors Property Trust, is leaving Aviva Investors, we have removed the fund from our Recommended list. He is expected to leave the firm in July 2015 and will be joining Hermes Investment Management’s real estate group. Experienced property investor Mike Luscombe, who has worked at Aviva Investors for nearly 27 years, will take over as lead manager of the fund after a transition period. Andrew Hook will remain as co-manager of the ...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28th April 2015, BlackRock Gold & General has been moved from our Established list to our Recommended list. The size of the Natural Resources Equity team’s assets under management, as represented by BlackRock Gold & General, BGF World Gold and other mandates, has fallen materially over the past three years. This has occurred during a period of gold price weakness, poor performance from gold-related equities and the consequent...
Read more >Following the news that Sajiv Vaid, manager of Royal London Corporate Bond, is leaving Royal London Asset Management (RLAM), we have removed the fund from the Recommended list. Jonathan Platt, Head of Fixed Income at RLAM, will take interim responsibility for the fund. He previously managed the fund and has continued to be involved with the fund, in support of Mr Vaid. While RLAM benefits from an established and well-resourced fixed income team, incorporating credit and sovereign speciali...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 31st March 2015, Aviva Investors Multi-Strategy Target Return was added to The Adviser Centre as a Positive Watch fund. Launched in July 2014, this is a relatively new offering and follows the hire of Euan Munro as CEO of Aviva Investors in January of that year. He was one of the architects of Standard Life Investments’ Global Absolute Return Strategies fund and his experience is central to the design of this new product from Aviva I...
Read more >On 8th April 2015, Jupiter Asset Management announced that Steve Davies, co-manager of Jupiter UK Growth, will assume full responsibility for the fund from 1st May 2015. Ian McVeigh, current co-manager of the fund, has decided to step away from day-to-day fund management to take on the newly-created role of Head of Governance. He will develop the work of the existing Governance Research team, which operates in partnership with fund managers with regard to researching, coordinating and con...
Read more >As a reminder, BNY Mellon has announced that from 1st April 2015, the Newton Global Higher Income fund will be renamed Newton Global Income fund. There is no change to the management philosophy or investment approach as a result of this name change. The fund will remain in the IA Global Equity Income sector. The fund remains on our Recommended list....
Read more >On 30th March 2015, Threadneedle Investments launched its new brand, Columbia Threadneedle Investments. There is no change to the Threadneedle fund names. At the present time, The Adviser Centre features four Threadneedle funds, namely: Threadneedle European Select Threadneedle UK Equity Income Threadneedle UK Monthly Income Threadneedle UK Property Trust. All four funds feature on our Recommended list. For further information, please see our previous bulletin publish...
Read more >On 24th March 2015, Baring Global Resources was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Baring Global Resources is managed by Duncan Goodwin, Head of Global Resources, who joined Baring Asset Management in January 2014. He is supported by the group’s dedicated global resources team and the broader investment platform at Barings. Mr Goodwin has a great deal of experience in managing global resource mandates, having previously been lead manager on the Martin Currie Global Reso...
Read more >On 3rd March 2015, Artemis Global Income was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by Jacob de Tusch-Lec, who joined Artemis in 2005. Working closely with the firm’s other income managers, he designed this global equity income approach using the key tenets of the successful UK equity income franchise and adapting the process to cater for the global opportunity set. Having managed the fund since its launch in July 2010, the approach is now well-establish...
Read more >On 17th February 2015, Rathbone Income was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Carl Stick has managed the fund since January 2000 and as such, has a great deal of experience in running this all-cap, income-focused mandate. He is supported by Alan Dobbie, manager of the Rathbone Blue Chip Income and Growth fund, Elizabeth Davis, investment manager, and a team of dedicated analysts. Mr Stick is extremely focused upon risk management, as expressed through the strength of the...
Read more >Following the news that Bradley George, Head of the Commodities & Resources investment team at Investec, is changing role within the firm, we have removed the Investec Enhanced Natural Resources fund from the Recommended list. Tom Nelson, the co-manager of Investec’s global energy strategies, will replace Mr George as Head of the Commodities & Resources team. He will also join George Cheveley as co-manager of the Investec Enhanced Natural Resources fund. The specialist team’s...
Read more >Following the news that Bradley George, Head of the Commodities & Resources investment team at Investec, is changing role within the firm, we have removed the Investec Global Gold fund from the Recommended list. In addition to leading this well-resourced specialist team, Mr George acted as co-manager of the Investec Global Gold fund alongside Scott Winship. Mr Winship is also in the process of transferring to a different investment team and the fund will be managed by George Cheveley an...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 30th January 2015, we moved the JOHCM UK Dynamic fund to the Recommended list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Positive Watch list. The manager, Alex Savvides, has been responsible for the fund since its inception in June 2008. By dint of working alongside experienced fund management colleagues at the firm, who employ a variety of approaches, he has honed a style of his own, drawing upon his own skills and beli...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 30th January 2015, we moved the GLG UK Select fund to the Recommended list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Positive Watch list. The managers, Charlie Long and Nick Judge, took full responsibility for the fund in 2013. As a large-cap dominated vehicle, it marks itself out compared to the peer group, where funds are typically underweight in large companies. The managers focus on identifying opportunities for co...
Read more >On 22nd January 2015, Investec UK Alpha was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The manager, Simon Brazier, took responsibility for the fund in January 2015. Mr Brazier joined Investec Asset Management late in 2014 from Threadneedle Investments, where he previously managed the Threadneedle UK fund. He was joined by four ex-Threadneedle colleagues at the beginning of 2015. In addition to managing the Investec UK Alpha fund, Mr Brazier is also Co-Head of the Quality inves...
Read more >On 12th January 2015, Threadneedle Investments announced that a new global brand is being launched in the first half of 2015. The new brand, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, will represent the combined capabilities of both Threadneedle Investments and its US-based affiliate, Columbia Management. Both firms are owned by Ameriprise Financial. Two important points of note are: This is not a legal merger and the two companies remain independent of each other, but under the same globa...
Read more >On 17th December 2014, Fidelity MoneyBuilder Balanced was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is co-managed by Michael Clark and Ian Spreadbury, who work together on the fund’s overall construction but specialise within their respective asset class disciplines. Messrs Clark and Spreadbury are two of the more experienced fund managers in the industry and they have been investing in income-focused strategies for many years. The fund’s primary aim is to deliver ...
Read more >On 15th December 2014, Invesco Perpetual Income was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Invesco Perpetual Income is managed by Mark Barnett, Head of UK Equities. He has had responsibility for the fund since March 2014, taking over from Neil Woodford, who left the firm. He has been an integral part of the UK equity process for a number of years, having joined the firm in 1996, and was a natural choice to succeed Mr Woodford in the management of the income funds. He is no...
Read more >On 11th December 2014, Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Prashant Khemka, CIO of Emerging Market Equities at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), is lead manager on the fund and works closely with Hiren Dasani, Head of the Indian Equity Research team. They are supported by a team of country specialists, as well as the broader resources at GSAM. The team has a thoughtful and pragmatic approach to investing in Indian equities. Th...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 27th November 2014, we moved the Invesco Perpetual Global Targeted Returns fund to the Recommended list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Positive Watch list. The three co-managers, Dave Jubb, David Millar and Richard Batty, joined Invesco Perpetual from Standard Life Investments and launched the Invesco Perpetual Global Targeted Returns fund in September 2013. As a Positive Watch list fund, we cited a number of...
Read more >On 2nd December 2014, Henderson European Absolute Return was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Henderson European Absolute Return is co-managed by John Bennett and Leopold Arminjon, who both joined Henderson in 2011 as part of the Gartmore acquisition. They aim to grow capital in excess of cash through long and short investments in pan-European equity markets. Within the IMA Targeted Absolute Return sector, we classify the fund as “conditionally directional”. The ...
Read more >Here is a reminder that the First State Global Emerging Markets Leaders fund is moving from the IMA Global Emerging Markets sector to the IMA Specialist sector on 1st December 2014. The fund remains on our Established list and its sector classification has been altered within The Adviser Centre. We still feature the fund in our IMA Sector Overview for Global Emerging Markets, given its importance to our clients and its continued relevance to this competitive landscape. For further det...
Read more >On 20th November 2014, Goldman Sachs Global High Yield Portfolio was added to The Adviser Centre as an Established fund. The fund is co-managed by Michael Goldstein and Rachel Golder, Co-Heads of the High Yield and Bank Loan team at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). Both managers have a great deal of experience in high yield bond markets and they are supported by a large team of high yield credit analysts, as well as the broader global fixed income team at GSAM. The team employs a t...
Read more >The forthcoming sector change First State Investments has announced that the First State Global Emerging Markets Leaders fund will be re-categorised within the IMA Specialist sector from 1st December 2014. Hitherto, the fund has been categorised within the IMA Global Emerging Markets sector. Following this announcement, the fund remains on our Established list. This change reflects the fact that the fund has been struggling to meet the IMA Global Emerging Markets sector requirement th...
Read more >On 15th October 2014, it was announced that the co-manager of the Henderson European Growth fund, Richard Pease, will be leaving Henderson Global Investors to join CRUX Asset Management. As a result of this news, we have removed the fund from The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. Henceforth, previous co-manager Simon Rowe will have full responsibility for the Henderson European Growth fund, as well as its offshore sister fund, Henderson Horizon European Growth. Mr Rowe will report to ...
Read more >On 1st October 2014, The Adviser Centre moved the GLG Japan CoreAlpha fund to the Established list. The fund previously featured on The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list.On 29th September 2014, GLG announced that it intends to restrict flows into its Japan CoreAlpha strategy on the basis of the team’s increased assets under management, combined with the firm’s assessment of market liquidity. The restrictions will come into effect on 13th October 2014. The firm has taken this step ...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 26th September 2014, GLG Undervalued Assets was added to The Adviser Centre as a Positive Watch fund. The fund is managed according to a value-biased approach by a team of three, led by Henry Dixon. Mr Dixon and the fund’s co-manager Jack Barrat, together with third team-member, Alice Owen, joined GLG in October 2013 from Matterley, where they ran a fund according to the same distinctive strategy. The managers employ a thoughtful ...
Read more >Following the news on 3rd September 2014 that the manager of Threadneedle UK, Simon Brazier, has left the firm, we have removed the fund from The Adviser Centre’s Recommended list. Chris Kinder has been named the lead manager of the fund with immediate effect. He is also the manager of Threadneedle UK Extended Alpha. Four other team-members are also leaving the firm and we will be discussing the broader implications of these important changes to the UK Equities team with Threadneedle ...
Read more >Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 29th August 2014, Schroder Asian Income was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. Richard Sennitt is lead fund manager on the fund and he works closely with Matthew Dobbs, the alternate fund manager. Both managers have a great deal of experience in Asian equities and they are supported by a well-resourced team. The manager has a thoughtful and pragmatic approach to managing this yield-focused strategy in Asian markets...
Read more >On 26th August 2014, First State Global Listed Infrastructure was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. First State Global Listed Infrastructure is co-managed by Peter Meany and Andrew Greenup. Mr Meany is head of Global Listed Infrastructure and co-founded this specialist business with Mr Greenup in 2007. They are supported by a dedicated team of investment professionals and analysts. The team seeks to deliver inflation-protected income, while aiming to preserve and gr...
Read more >We are delighted to announce that The Adviser Centre’s research is now featured within Distribution Technology’s Dynamic Planner®. Our factsheets are now live within the enhanced fund search engine of Dynamic Planner® and can be downloaded to assist intermediary users to complete their fund selection due diligence and client records, quickly and efficiently, all within one place. City Financial committed to this initiative because of the importance of Dynamic Planner® to many of our...
Read more >On 1st August 2014, Investec Emerging Markets Equity was added to The Adviser Centre as a Recommended fund. The fund is managed by Archie Hart according to Investec’s 4Factor process. He is supported by Adam Child together with Greg Kuhnert, who manages Asia Pacific strategies within the team. The 4Factor process aims to identify high quality, attractively valued companies which have improving operating performance and are receiving greater investor attention. The four factors tha...
Read more >On 11th July 2014, Franklin European Opportunities was removed from The Adviser Centre’s Positive Watch list. Franklin Templeton has announced that senior members of its European Equity Group, including Michael Clements, the lead manager of the Franklin European Opportunities fund, are to leave the group. The fund is small in size but featured on our Positive Watch list as a reflection of our growing conviction in Mr Clements’ contrarian, stock-picking approach. The stock research ph...
Read more >On 9th June 2014, JOHCM UK Dynamic was added to The Adviser Centre as a Positive Watch fund. The fund is managed by Alex Savvides, who has worked at JOHCM since 2003 alongside the firm’s UK equity managers. The manager has formulated his own distinctive investment approach, using his observations of different investment processes and his understanding of the opportunities and challenges that they present. As a primary objective, Mr Savvides seeks to capitalise upon the dynamic nature...
Read more >Legal & General Investments has announced the conversion of the Legal & General UK Property Trust to a Property Authorised Investment Fund (PAIF). This structural change occurred on 27th May 2014. The new fund is called the Legal & General UK Property fund. There is also a feeder fund called the Legal & General UK Property Feeder fund, which is not subject to the PAIF rules. This fund has been established for those investors who are not eligible to invest in a PAIF or are...
Read more >On 14th May 2014, Standard Life Investments announced the resignation of Ian Pizer, a senior fund manager on the Multi Asset Investing team that runs the Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies fund. Mr Pizer will be replaced on the team by Sebastian MacKay, also an experienced bond investor who joined the group in 2011 and has been involved in the management of the Standard Life Absolute Return Bond Strategies fund. We are concerned by the continuing senior departures from the tea...
Read more >On 22nd April 2014, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) announced the departure of Dickie Hodges, manager of the L&G Dynamic Bond Trust. Martin Reeves, Senior Fixed Income Fund Manager, will assume responsibility for the Trust. Mr Hodges will remain at the firm for a period of time in order to facilitate the smooth transition of this fund, and others for which he is responsible, to the new managers. We intend to meet Martin Reeves in the near future to discuss its futur...
Read more >On 4th March 2014, BlackRock announced that Richard Plackett, manager of the BlackRock UK Special Situations fund and Head of the UK Small/Mid Cap team, is to take a six month sabbatical commencing on 1st April 2014. Co-manager Roland Arnold will continue to run the fund in Mr Plackett’s absence. He became co-manager in August 2012 and he joined the firm (previously Merrill Lynch Investment Managers) in 2000. Working alongside the other members of the UK Small/Mid Cap team and drawing...
Read more >On 26th March 2014, Standard Life PLC announced an agreement with Pheonix Group Holdings to purchase Ignis Asset Management, subject to FCA approval. It is anticipated that the transaction will complete by the end of June. Ahead of the launch of The Adviser Centre, we had anticipated featuring four Ignis funds in our service. These were Ignis Corporate Bond, Ignis UK Property, Ignis Absolute Return Government Bond and Ignis European Smaller Companies. These had been discussed and agree...
Read more >At The Adviser Centre, our primary aim is to support financial professionals in their fund selection and suitability work through independently-minded research, borne of decades of industry experience. Our process is framed by the fundamental concepts of “quality”, “value” and “utility”, through which we answer the key questions of why to invest in a fund, how it is likely to behave and how it can be deployed.
The Adviser Centre team members are some of the most experienced in the fund research industry. We can always look forward to robust and constructive discussions and we have great respect for their views and perspectives, which, given the breadth of their fund and market knowledge, come from an extremely well-informed position.
We have known and worked with the team for several years and we value their experience and the insights they provide to our own investment process. The service differentiates itself by its more focused nature and the information on their factsheets is useful in emphasising a fund’s key mandate, exposure and style biases, helping to explain the risk/return journey that our customers can expect.
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