Troy AM boosts income franchise with hire from BlackRock

Mr Wharrier will join Troy in October from BlackRock, where he led the UK equity income team and was co-manager of BlackRock UK Income Fund (GB00B67DWR44) and BlackRock Income and Growth Investment Trust (BRIG) since 2013.

Before this he worked at NewSmith Asset Management, and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers which he joined in 1994.

Trojan Income is the third-best performer in the Investment Association (IA) UK Equity Income sector out of more than 50 funds over 10 years, and among the top 10 over three. But it is in the fourth quartile over one year and third quartile over three. Mr Brooke has run this fund since 2004 and Mr Ure has run it since 2011.

BlackRock UK Income is ahead of Trojan Income over one and three years, and in the third and first quartile of the IA UK Equity Income sector over those periods respectively. But it is behind Trojan Income over five.

Mr Wharrier has beaten his fund manager peer group composite over three, five and 10 years, according to research company FE Trustnet, which says: "Overall, performing better than the peer group composite. Over a long track record, the manager has outperformed the peer group more often than not. Stockpicking has not really benefited results, which have not been particularly exposed to falling markets."

BlackRock UK Income will now be managed run by Adam Avigdori, who has worked on the fund since 2009, and David Goldman, who has worked on it since 2015. Following Mr Wharrier's departure research company Morningstar has lowered its rating on the fund from Bronze to Neutral.

"They ran it in a collegial fashion with the three of them all contributing ideas to the portfolio, but Mark Wharrier was the senior team member and he had the final say if there were any disagreements on stocks going into the portfolio," said Peter Brunt, senior analyst, manager research at Morningstar. "So, we do see this as a material change. Mark brought structure to the investment approach and ensured that there was balance across the three co-managers. We consider his exit as a loss to the fund and, while we will be monitoring the progress of Avigdori and Goldman closely, for now our level of conviction has diminished."

Mr Avigdori also continues as co-manger of BlackRock Income and Growth Investment Trust, a role he has been in since 2012 when BlackRock took over its management, and Mr Goldman has been appointed as co-manager of this trust. In terms of net asset value return (NAV), the trust beats its peer group average over one and three years, but lags over five. It does better than Troy Income & Growth Trust over one and five years.

"Overall, the fund’s performance record is respectable, but doesn’t stand out against the peers and the fund’s small size with a £51m market cap means that it is off the radar of many investors – there are numerous UK Equity Income investment trusts with market caps over £500m," commented analysts at broker Numis Securities. "To an extent BlackRock Income and Growth's size is mitigated by its zero discount policy, whereby the liquidity is provided to buyers/sellers at close to NAV. However, this trust has struggled to attract investor demand and there has been a steady shrinkage in the share capital through buybacks."

Fund performance