Ian Henderson, manager of JP Morgan’s UK natural resources funds, will step down from the daily running of the vehicles next year after nearly 20 years in the position.

Henderson will stay on as an advisor for one year, but Neil Gregson, who joined the natural resources team a year ago, will take over as lead manager at the end of January 2012.

Gregson joined JP Morgan after 20 years at Credit Suisse Asset Management, where he was head of emerging markets and related sector funds. During his spell at the Swiss giant, he also managed gold and natural resource equity funds.

Gregson has said that the team will continue to focus on research-led stock picking and investing in a diversified portfolio of mainly small and mid-cap companies.

“The world of natural resources and the investment opportunities within the sector remain as compelling now as ever and I am still very much a believer in the commodities super-cycle,” Henderson said in a statement.

The company said that the JPM Natural Resources fund has returned 764 per cent in sterling terms over the past ten years, while the JPM Global Natural Resources fund has returned about 100 per cent in euro terms since it was launched in 2004.