There is a new manager of the Neptune UK Opportunities Fund, the UK-based firm has announced.

UK-based Neptune Investment Management‘s Mark Martin has assumed management of the Neptune UK Opportunities Fund. Martin, who became head of UK equities in 2013, takes over from Scott MacLennan.

MacLennan, who has managed the fund since April 2013, has left the firm with immediate effect, the firm said in a statement yesterday.

The developments form part of Neptune’s restructure of its investment team and fund range which, as this publication reported last month, is aimed at boosting fund returns. This includes a product rationalisation process, through which 40 per cent of the company’s fund range will shut down. The firm will be building the team leading global sector model portfolios with several sector analyst hires over the course of the year.

Martin will retain responsibility for the investment house’s UK Mid Cap Fund, which he has managed since its inception in 2008. The firm said in a statement that there is significant research overlap across the two funds - the holdings within the UK Mid Cap Fund are comprised of companies in the FTSE 250 Index and the largest fifty firms in the FTSE Small Cap Index, while the UK Opportunities Fund has a multi-cap remit.

In managing the funds, Martin will work with the firm’s global sector specialists and the UK equities team. Over its duration, the Neptune UK Mid Cap Fund has delivered returns of 284.3 per cent compared to a FTSE 250 Mid return of 210.9 per cent (as of 31 January 2015).