much more than needing
to be good at fund management
or any City
career,” he adds.
Jane is also a man comfortable
living in the
present while understanding
historical events and
their impact on how the
present has been created.
He is happy to identify
and assess the risks that
his portfolio faces in terms
of asset allocation and
overall construction
although he does not dwell
too much on predicting
binary outcomes.
He follows the mantra
of keeping things simple, a
characteristic shared by the
most successful businessmen,
including fund managers,
and has a very
straightforward view on
issues that many have
spent, and are still spend-
120
100
80
% 60
40
20
IMA balanced
managed sector
0
’02 ’03 ’04
Source: Morningstar
M&G Managed Fund
’05
ing, an inordinate amount
of time trying to get to
grips with.
For example, he sums
up the recent sell-off as
“been and gone and in the
past”; he doesn’t see the
need to even debate the
merits of whether or not to
buy banks “because I can
go and buy a whole lot of
other equities quite happily
and comfortably.”
l Questioning Asia
Refreshingly, he does not
see investment as all about
Asia driving everything:
“You really only have to
make one single point
decision – do you believe
the world economy can
grow?”
He believes the answer
is yes, but questions the
emphasis placed on Asia as
M&G Cautious Multi-Asset Fd since launch
20
10
0
% -10
-20
-30
-40
Mar ’07 Sep
Source: Morningstar
M&G Cautious Multi-Asset Fund
IMA cautious managed sector
Mar ’08
MSCI World
MSCI World
’06
Sep
M&G Managed Fund since launch
’07
Mar ’09
’08
Sep
’09
Cautious Multi Asset Fund asset split
Property 7.3%
Commodities 4.2%
Fixed interest * 29.7%
the be all and end all. He is
still positive on emerging
markets – 25% of the equities
in his Cautious Multi-
Asset Fund are in Asia – but
is keen to define growth in
global terms not just in
terms of one region.
“Given that 2.5 billion
participate in the global
economy today and 3.5
billion do not, and that
there is a huge need to
bring those people into the
world economy, I think it
its clear that the world
economy can, should and
will grow.
“Do we think the relative
wealth of the West will
decline relative to the rest
of the world? Quite evidently
it will as part of that
process, but does it mean
the world economy will
shrink? The world economy
is going to grow, more
people are going to
participate and demand
more resources, more use
of energy, and we will
need to find more innovative
and clever ways of
delivering that growth
going forward.”
As more people in more
countries participate in the
global growth that Jane
sees, they will have to look
to those countries that
can provide the resources
they will need, the newer
technologies as well as
FUND MANAGER PROFILE DAVID JANE
Cash 3.5%
Source: M&G. *Corporate bonds 12.8%, Gov bonds 12.2%
Convertible bonds 1.7%, other fixed interest 3%
Equity 55.4%
staple goods, intellectual
property as much as huge
infrastructure projects. That
is where the UK, Europe
and the US investment
opportunities are, he says.
l Being proactive
Jane identifies another trait
of successful managers of
other people’s money, and
that is to act on their
beliefs. “There are two
forms of defence; one is to
act and the other is to hide.
My investors don’t want
me to hide.
“I could run a fund that
will never have a 10%
drawdown by just sitting in
sterling or cash-like assets,
but they would never participate
in the long run. My
investors expect me to earn
them a decent return in the
long run, so I have to be
proactive in how I protect
the capital, which means
acting.”
Jane breaks down asset
management into its most
basic components, backs
his conviction that his view
of the world is the right
one without being gungho,
is flexible enough to
change his mind when
he needs to, assesses the
biggest macro risks without
getting buried in
minutiae, and then acts.
Simple really…
BIOGRAPHY
David Jane joined M&G in
December 2000 as a fund
manager on the global
specialist team. He currently
heads up the multi-asset team
and has managed the M&G
Cautious Multi Asset Fund
since its launch in February
2007. He has also managed
the M&G Managed Fund
since July 2002.
He previously worked at
Axa Investment Management
as head of global financials
research before which he
was with Newton Investment
Management as director of
global financials research.
Jane graduated from Keele
University with a BA honours
in statistics and economics.
JANUARY 2010 [www.portfolio-adviser.com] PORTFOLIO ADVISER
23
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