This year has seen the moves of a number of high profile fund managers, most notably the forthcoming departure of Neil Woodfood from Invesco Perpetual (read more about this). This can have serious consequences for the funds that they leave with ensuing outflows, and there are expectations of large outflows from Mr Woodford's Invesco Perpetual Income (GB0033053827) and High Income (GB0033054015) funds (read our report). However, Invesco says that so far "redemptions across both Invesco Perpetual High Income and Invesco Perpetual Income funds, beyond the historic redemption rate, have totalled less than £1bn or slightly more than 4 per cent of the total assets under management."
"This news once again turns the spotlight on the so-called phenomenon of star fund managers," says Jason Hollands, managing director of wealth adviser Bestinvest. "Although some funds are heavily team- or process-driven, and many others benefit behind the scenes from the input of teams of analysts, strategists and dealers supporting a prominent figurehead, it remains the case that a chunk of the most successful actively managed investment funds still rely on the skills and judgement of a key trigger-puller. This means it is vital to keep on top of who is managing your money, always reappraise the situation when a major change takes place and look behind the performance of a fund to that of the career track record of the individual manager running it today, since the two may not be the same."
While the career moves and retirement plans of well known managers such as Neil Woodford and Anthony Bolton hit headlines, other manager changes can pass by without drawing the attention of fund investors. For this reason, Bestinvest has put together a list of 10 managers with long-standing track records and a strong personal following, that are still running sizeable funds. They are as follows.
Nigel Thomas of AXA Investment Managers has managed money for over 26 years and built one of the strongest track records in the UK All Companies sector. A pragmatic approach to selecting growth opportunities combined with an instinct for value sets him apart. His £4.3bn AXA Framlington UK Select Opportunities Fund (GB0003501581) is an IC tip.
Hugh Young leads Aberdeen's large and highly successful Asian equities team, so these funds are considerably less dependent on a single individual than most. He and his team run IC Top 100 Funds Aberdeen Asian Income Fund (AAIF), Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Investment Trust (AAS) and Edinburgh Dragon Trust (EFM).
First State's Angus Tulloch has 25 years' experience of managing Asia Pacific ex Japan funds and tends to keep an eye on the downside. His First State Asia Pacific Leaders (GB0033874214) is an IC Top 100 Fund.
Richard Pease of Henderson has managed European funds for more than 23 years. He first rose to prominence at Jupiter before moving to New Star which was acquired by Henderson. His retail funds include £938.7m Henderson European Special Situations (GB00B3W46246) and £945m Henderson European Growth (GB0030617707).
Richard Buxton defected from Schroders earlier this year, where he was head of UK equities, to Old Mutual Global Investors. He has a track record of over 17 years running UK equity funds focused primarily on the FTSE 350. He made strong long-term returns with Schroder UK Alpha Plus (GB0031440133) and continues to run Old Mutual UK Alpha Fund (GB00B96MWT53), which he has run since 2009.
Adrian Frost at Artemis is probably Neil Woodford's nearest rival in the UK equity income world, with a 25-year track record managing income funds and a strong following for his £6bn Artemis Income Fund (GB0006572464).
Harry Nimmo's Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Fund (GB0004331236) soft closed in 2011 due to its popularity, while IC Top 100 Fund Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust (SLS) regularly trades at a premium to net asset value, a sign of the strong demand for Nimmo's expertise.
Read our update on Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust
Tom Dobell has managed the gigantic £7.2bn M&G Recovery Fund (GB0031289217) which targets out of favour and undervalued companies since 2000. Its size is a concern and the last two years have seen it lag the market - reasons why we recently dropped it from our IC Top 100 Funds. But Bestinvest adds that this style of contrarian investing requires patience.
Read our update on M&G Recovery
Ian Spreadbury at Fidelity has an identifiable track record of outperformance over 18 years. He runs funds including Fidelity MoneyBuilder Income (GB0003863916) and Fidelity Strategic Bond (GB00B05NC857).
Schroders' Andy Brough has been managing smaller company investments since the late 1980s, and the £1.5bn Schroder UK Mid 250 Fund (GB0008528696) since 1999. The fund can be volatile over shorter-term periods, but performance has begun to improve over the past two years.
