news round-up Hawksmoor S&P’s reveals how active management
fails to measure up to index performance
The latest report showing
that the vast majority of
actively managed funds
underperformed their relative
index, raises questions
yet again about the value
added by active management
fund charges.
The Standard & Poor’s
Index Services report looks
at US indices. It shows that
for the five-year period to
30 June, 2008, the S&P
500 outperformed 68.6%
of actively managed largecap
funds; the S&P MidCap
400 outperformed 75.9%
of actively managed midcap
funds; and the S&P
SmallCap 600 outperformed
77.8% of actively managed
small-cap funds.
It found similar results
people moves
� John Spiers and
Mike Neumann
Bestinvest founder John
Spiers has returned, as
chief executive, to the
company he founded,
having left in December
2006. Spiers had originally
sold his share in the
company to private equity
firm 3i. He takes over from
his replacement, Andrew
Barnes. At the same time,
Mike Neumann has
rejoined the company
as director of investment
management. Having
spent ten years at
Bestinvest, Neumann left
in August last year for
a career break, coinciding
with the appointment of
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Dash: most active managers
‘underperform indices’
in the international arena.
Among global equity
funds, five-year results
show the S&P Global 1200
outperforming 70.1% of
global equity funds; the
S&P International 700 outperforming
86.5% of international
equity funds; and
Barnes. Gordon Hull is the
new head of distribution
and will be responsible
for the execution-only and
advisory business, as well
as distributor and business
partner relationships.
� Steve Watson
Insynergy Investment
Management, the new
boutique launched by
Spike Hughes and James
Caan, has named Steve
Wisson as its chief
operating officer. He will
be responsible for finance,
operations, compliance
and risk management
and will report to chief
executive Hughes.
Before running his own
consultancy, Watson was
the S&P IFCI Composite
outperforming 73.9% of
emerging market funds.
Srikant Dash, head of
global research and design
at Standard & Poor’s Index
Services, says: “Over a fiveyear
horizon, our research
shows a majority of active
managers underperform
indices. This is true even
in relatively inefficient segments
of the market such as
small capitalisation stocks
and emerging markets.”
A similar comparison
among fixed income funds
shows more than threequarters
of actively managed
domestic bond funds
were outperformed by
benchmarks in all categories
over a five-year period.
with State Street Investor
Services between 2005
and 2007, having
previously worked for
Axa Investment Managers
and Prudential.
� James Budden
James Budden has
joined the institutional
clients department
of Baillie Gifford as
marketing director, wealth
management. He will be
responsible for developing
a global strategy to
distribute the company’s
range of investment
trusts and other collective
investment funds.
Budden joins from Witan
Investment Trust where
he was marketing director
DECEMBER 2008 [www.portfolio-adviser.com] PORTFOLIO ADVISER
names
Scott as its CIO
Richard Scott has joined
new discretionary firm
Hawksmoor Investment
Management as its chief
investment officer. He was
hired by chief executive
John Crowley from Midas
Capital, where he was
a senior fund manager
at its subsidiary, iimia
Wealth Management.
Rossi focuses on
Gartmore investment
Dominic Rossi took up his
post as chief investment
officer at Gartmore on 3
Nov. He is responsible for
the company’s investment
division, encompassing its
London headquarters as
well as investment offices
in the US and Asia. Rossi
has more than 20 years
of professional investment
experience, most recently
as head of equities at
Threadneedle Asset
Management.
from 2004 and managing
director of Witan
Investment Services
from 2005.
� Nizam Hamid
iShares, Barclays Global
Investors’ exchange-traded
fund arm, has named
Nizam Hamid as managing
director and head of sales
strategy for Europe.
He will report to Andrea
Morresi, managing director
and head of sales for
iShares in Europe, and
will be based in BGI’s
London office. Hamid
joins from Deutsche Bank,
where he had led the
global portfolio trading
and index strategy team
since 1998.
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NEWS ROUND-UP
Lehman gets
Barclays stamp
Barclays Capital has
rebranded the Lehman
Brothers indices as
Barclays Capital Indices.
Morningstar rebranded
the indices – which are
now identified as ‘BarCap’
rather than ‘Lehman’
– from mid-November.
Ignis AM is the
new Resolution
From 17 Nov, Ignis
Asset Management has
replaced the Resolution
Asset Management brand,
combining Resolution’s
multi-boutique approach
with alternatives specialist
Axial. Axial will initially
continue to trade under
its own name, while the
company formerly known
as Resolution will continue
to run the joint venture
operations under their
own Argonaut, Cartesian,
Hexam and Maia branding.
Du Haney joins
Insight team
Insight Investment
has recruited Emma du
Haney to its fixed income
team as a senior fixed
income product specialist.
She joins in December
from Henderson Global
Investors and will report
to Adrian Grey, head
of fixed income. Du
Haney’s focus will be
on developing Insight’s
client base outside the
UK with a particular focus
on Europe. She has more
than 20 years’ fixed
income experience in fund
management and product
specialist roles.
7
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