People Moves
Henderson Star Manager Departs; Advisors Are Relaxed Over Move
Henderson Group’s director of European equities Richard Pease is leaving to join Crux Asset Management, a new fund management company.
UK-listed Henderson Group’s director of European equities Richard
Pease is leaving to join Crux Asset Management, a new fund
management company.
The Henderson European Special Situations Fund, which is
currently managed by Pease, will be transferred to Crux’s
nominated third-party authorised corporate director, subject to
obtaining regulatory and client approval, Henderson Group said
in a statement.
Following the transfer, the fund will continue to be managed by
Pease and his team at Crux Asset Management.
Current co-manager Simon Rowe will take responsibility for the
management of both the Henderson European Growth Fund and
Henderson Horizon European Growth Fund. He will be supported by
the wider European equities team led by John Bennett.
“Henderson and Crux will work closely together over the next few
months to facilitate a seamless transition. Clients will be
kept updated on timings and progress,” Henderson said.
Pease will remain an employee of Henderson until the transfer of
the Henderson European Special Situations Fund is completed and
throughout that period will continue to manage the Henderson
European Special Situations Fund during the transfer of the fund
to Crux.
The news comes following a number of high-profile moves in recent
years, including the retirement of Fidelity’s Anthony Bolton,
Neil Woodford leaving Invesco Perpetual to set up his own fund
management firm and Richard Buxton going from Schroders to Old
Mutual. Most notably bond giant Bill Gross left PIMCO to rival
firm Janus.
Impact
Jason Hollands, managing director, business development and
communications at Tilney Bestinvest, advised investors in the
Henderson European Special Situations fund to take no immediate
action as the deal was designed to provide management
continuity.
“While this will see the loss of a block of assets for Henderson,
it appears to be an elegant way of handling a manager move in a
manner that should minimise disruption to clients and avoid a
process of battling against outflows in the way Invesco Perpetual
have experienced following the news of Neil Woodford’s
departure,” said Hollands.
“It is likely in our view that there has been a pre-existing
agreement relating to the European Special Situations and we
therefore see this as an exceptional move, unlikely to be
repeated generally at other fund groups where managers want to
spin themselves out,” he added.
Thomas McMahon, fund analyst at FE research, said that Rowe’s
experience and knowledge of the underlying companies meant the
underlying strategy was unlikely to change.
“The fund’s low turnover style and clearly defined bottom-up,
growth orientated approach means that Rowe should be able to take
over the reins without any immediate disruption,” said
McMahon.
“In the medium term it remains to be seen how he will handle the
additional burden of managing the portfolio single-handedly, and
we will be monitoring this. However, he will be assisted by
Henderson’s highly successful European equities team led by John
Bennett, and we rate the team and Bennett highly,” he added.