How Long Should a Manager Head Up an Investment Company?

While the phrase ‘been there, done that’ might suggest a breezy tone of overfamiliarity to some, when it comes to choosing investments, some investors might actively look for a fund manager who’s ‘seen it all’ and been at the helm of their investment company through the good times and the bad.

As the UK continues to navigate its way through Brexit, investment company investors might be reassured to know that half (50%) of AIC member investment companies have had at least one manager in place for 10 years or more. Almost a quarter (23%) of member companies have had at least one of their managers for 20 years or more.

Commenting on this latest data, Annabel Brodie-Smith, Communications Director of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) said: “When it comes to investing for the long term, investment companies are an ideal vehicle for investors to consider. Their closed-ended structure means managers don’t have to worry about inflows and outflows of investors’ money, and can take a long-term view of their portfolio. As a result, it’s perhaps unsurprising that investment company managers are in it for the long haul! Nonetheless with the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, it’s really encouraging to see that half of investment companies have the benefit of the same manager, who will have weathered the good times and the bad.”

Longest serving managers

Topping the list as the investment company industry’s longest serving manager is Peter Spiller, manager of Capital Gearing for the past 36 years. Close behind is Simon Knott, who has managed Rights & Issues for 34 years, while Angela Lascelles and Matthew Oakeshott are the third longest serving managers, having both managed Value & Income for almost 32 years.

Hugh Young has managed Aberdeen New Dawn for 29 years, while James Henderson has managed Lowland for 28 years. Tim Levett and Alastair Conn have also managed Northern Investors Company for 28 years, although the company is currently in the process of realising its assets. Richard Newbery and Alistair Whyte have both managed Aberforth Smaller Companies for the last 27 years. Coming up to his 27^th year of managing the City of London Investment Trust is Job Curtis. City of London has consecutively increased its dividend every year for the past 51 years with Job at the helm for over half of this time.

In fact, 12 out of 20 dividend heroes – those companies that have consecutively increased their dividend each year – have had the same manager for at least 10 years. In addition to Value & Income and City of London, they are: British & American (Jonathan Woolf has been fund manager for the past 22 years), F&C Capital & Income (Julian Cane, 21 years), Scottish Mortgage (James Anderson, 18 years), Temple Bar (Alastair Mundy, 15 years), Bankers (Alex Crooke, almost 15 years), Brunner (Lucy MacDonald, almost 13 years), Invesco Income Growth (Ciaran Mallon, 12 years), F&C Global Smaller Companies (Peter Ewins, 12 years), Merchants (Simon Gergel, 12 years) and Murray Income Trust (Charles Luke, 11 years).

Longest serving investment company managers (AIC members):

*Denotes additional pool

**Colin Hughes will be retiring from Janus Henderson Investors on 30 June 2018.

(Source: Morningstar)