Three years ago he was managing a modest £182 million in his Trojan fund. Since then the fund has grown to a massive £1.161 billion and his performance record at the fund's 10th anniversary at the end of May speaks for itself.
Troy Asset Management, of which Mr Lyon is chief executive, was set up to look after the family interests of the late Lord Weinstock, the revered former chief executive of GEC, with the objective of protecting wealth as much as growing it. With a total return over ten years of 143.5 per cent, compared to 55.4 per cent from the FTSE All-share index, the Trojan fund has consistently delivered top decile performance compared to its peers in the Investment Management Association's balanced managed sector, and is ranked 1st out of 55 in the sector since launch.
Incredibly Mr Lyon has managed to achieve this way above average performance by taking on below average risk. Over the period the fund has had an average monthly volatility of just 2 per cent compared with 4.5 per cent for the FTSE All Share. This is over a decade with huge stock market volatility with two 50 per cent falls. "Taking on risk to generate good returns is such a mistake," he says. "Back in 2001, I thought there was far more risk to capital than upside. It is important that you don't just hope for the upside but also think about downside risks."
