Fund Times: 12 - 16 July

Guillaume Rambourg Resigns from Gartmore
Guillaume Rambourg has resigned from Gartmore, following several months of controversy. Rambourg was suspended from the firm in March due to an internal compliance investigation. He was reinstated in April as an analyst however by that time the FSA was undertaking its own investigations and he was not able to work as a portfolio manager without FSA approval. Gartmore stated that Rambourg resigned so he could “devote his attention to concluding the FSA investigation into his conduct and to allow Gartmore to put these matters behind it”. Rambourg joined Gartmore in 1995 and was a senior investment manager in the European equities team. He co-managed the European Absolute Return fund and the AlphaGen Capella hedge fund with Roger Guy. The pair’s funds accounted for more than one third of Gartmore’s total assets under management, although the firm suffered outflows of £1.2 billion in the two months following Rambourg’s suspension.

Chris Bamberry Resigns from SWIP UK Smaller Companies
SWIP’s UK Investment Director, Chris Bamberry, has resigned. Bamberry was responsible for the SWIP UK Smaller Companies Fund and will be replaced by Gregor MacDonald. Morningstar previously rated the fund Inferior, but the rating has been placed under review due to the changes. Click here to read Morningstar’s view of the fund when it was under Bamberry.

Further Changes at SWIP
SWIP has also reshuffled managers on five if its funds following several key departures. Ian Fulton will manage SWIP Emerging Markets following the departure of team head Kim Catechis. Ian Vose departed the group, leaving Johnny Russell as the sole manager on SWIP Global SRI. Jeff King has stepped down as co-manager of the Clerical Medical Adventurous fund, leaving Ken Adams as sole manager. SWIP has experienced a fair degree of uncertainty over the last two years as the group digests a massive injection of funds from Clerical Medical which increased SWIP’s assets under management by approximately 50%.

AEGON CEO Erik von Houwelingen Quits
AEGON Asset Management CEO Erik von Houwelingen has quit the group and will be replaced by Sarah Russell, former head of ABN Amro Asset Management. AEGON officially relaunched their asset management brand in 2009, and has been gradually restructuring the group to foster more cooperation between its investment teams around the world, which previously had operated independently. We think the group had pockets of strength and weakness and we see this effort as a positive development, although change has been slow to occur. The potential impact of changes at the CEO level are unclear at this stage, although AEGON stated in a press release that new CEO Sarah Russell “will be charged with leading AEGON Asset Management into a new period of development and growth, in line with our ambitions” which we think indicates the intention to continue the strategy of increasing cooperation between global teams.

AXA Framlington Head of Emerging Markets Quits to Join Polar
AXA Framlington’s head of emerging markets, William Calvert, has quit the group and will join Polar Capital later this year. Calvert outperformed the Morningstar Emerging Markets Equity category average over his 13 year tenure at Framlington, backed by a small team of analysts. We note though that two Framlington analysts will follow Calvert to Polar, suggesting that he may operate a fund and team structure at Polar similar to that which he had at Framlington.

JM Finn Launches UK Smaller Companies Fund
This week saw the launch of the JM Finn UK Smaller Companies Fund. The fund will be run by Gill Leates, who appears experienced having managed small companies funds at Schroders and more recently Majedie Investments. However we note that the UK equity sector is a crowded and competitive space. We think will be a challenge for JM Finn to attract assets, although in the small-cap area, having a small fund size can be a significant advantage.

Senior Hires at Threadneedle
Threadneedle has appointed a new CIO and a new head of fixed income in the same week. Mark Burgess, head of equities at L&G, will join Threadneedle in 2011, replacing Sarah Arkle who will step down to a deputy chair role. Meanwhile Jim Cielinski joins the group as head of fixed income, having spent the previous 12 years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as MD and head of global investment grade credit. Threadneedle has stated that this completes the hiring at the senior level.

Morningstar Qualitative Ratings and Reports Issued This Week
Morningstar issued new qualitative ratings and reports on a number of funds available to UK investors this week, including BGF Euro Short Duration Bond and Fidelity European Opps. Click here to see the full list.