Stewart Investors announces changes in portfolio management responsibilities

Transcription

1 Stewart Investors announces changes in portfolio management responsibilities Media Statement 9 November 2015 Stewart Investors (SI) has today given advance notice of a number of changes we intend to make to portfolio management responsibilities held for Stewart Investors client portfolios. The result of the changes is to broaden responsibilities across the team, in line with our present investment capabilities. As with similar changes we have made before, they are part of a continuous focus on transparent succession planning and will take place over the next nine months, being complete by 1 July Angus Tulloch will hand over portfolio management responsibility of the Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders Fund, a sub fund of First State Investments ICVC (the OEIC ), the First State Investments Asia Pacific Leaders Fund (Delaware Statutory Trust), which will both be managed by David Gait and Sashi Reddy. Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Fund, a sub fund of the OEIC, which will be managed by Ashish Swarup. Angus Tulloch will remain as comanager. David Gait will hand over portfolio management responsibility of the Stewart Investors Worldwide Sustainability Fund, a sub fund of the OEIC, which will be managed by Nick Edgerton. David Gait will remain as co-manager. Colonial First State Wholesale Worldwide Sustainability Fund which will be managed by Nick Edgerton. David Gait will remain as comanager. Jonathan Asante will hand over portfolio management responsibility of the

2 Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Leaders Fund, a sub fund of the OEIC and Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Leaders Fund, a sub fund of the First State Global Umbrella Fund plc (the VCC ), which will both be managed by Ashish Swarup and Tom Prew. The Colonial First State Wholesale Global Emerging Markets Fund; the Colonial First State Wholesale Global Emerging Markets Leaders Fund; First State Investments Global Emerging Markets Leaders Fund (Group Trust); the First State Investments Global Emerging Markets Leaders Fund (Delaware Statutory Trust), which will all be managed by Tom Prew and Ashish Swarup. Stewart Investors Worldwide Leaders Fund: a sub fund of the VCC; the Stewart Investors MPF Global Equity Fund; the Colonial First State Wholesale Worldwide Leaders Fund, which will all transition from Jonathan Asante to Sashi Reddy and the sustainable funds team. Tom Prew will hand over portfolio management responsibility of the Stewart Investors Latin America Fund, a sub fund of the OEIC, which will be managed by Dominic St George. Tom Prew will remain as comanager. David Gait, Jonathan Asante and Tom Prew will continue to manage client money across other Asia Pacific, GEM, Worldwide, Frontier and Sustainability mandates. Angus Tulloch will continue as a member of the investment team. Stewart Investors culture, philosophy and processes are unchanged. Our priority remains to protect client capital and to deliver attractive long-term investment returns. These changes, as with others we have made over the years, must be seen in the context of the broader evolution of our business. We operate in an industry still overly-focused on individuals and our investment approach represents a balance between the collegiate and the individual. We are very much a team, united by one investment philosophy, in how we research companies and make decisions, but we have been equally committed to providing clarity around individual portfolio responsibility. We have no intention of changing that approach, nor of concealing these individual

3 responsibilities behind a faceless committee. Our ambition is to continue to develop talented investors, who will thrive in the particular environment in which we choose to operate. In that regard the business has never been better placed. For further information please contact: - Ends Name Telephone Barnaby Fry/Christian Pickel +44 (0 ) firststate@mhpc.com (UK & Europe PR representative) Notes to Editors: Funds under Management* 20.2bn $30.6bn (US Dollars) EUR 27.4bn *FuM (funds under management) figures are approximate as at 30 September 2015 About Stewart Investors: Stewart Investors is an investment business which manages portfolios on behalf of clients in Asia Pacific, Emerging Markets, Worldwide and Sustainable Development equity investment strategies. Primarily based in Edinburgh, we have a distinct culture and investment philosophy that is unchanged in more than two decades, since the launch of our first investment strategy in Stewart Investors formerly operated as First State Stewart and prior to that as Stewart Ivory. Stewart Ivory & Company Limited was formed in 1985 by the merger of Stewart Fund Managers Limited and Ivory & Co. Stewart Fund Managers can trace its roots to the establishment of The Scottish American Investment Company plc, Edinburgh s oldest investment trust, in In its more recent form, First State Stewart began when Angus Tulloch joined Stewart Ivory & Company in 1988 to set up the Asia Pacific and Global Emerging Markets (GEM) capability. Stewart Ivory & Company was bought by First State Investments/the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in The acquisition allowed the investment team to retain its independence and to effectively operate as a stand-alone boutique investment management business within First State Investments. On 1 July 2015 the investment team split to form two new teams; one primarily based in Edinburgh (Stewart Investors) and the other in Hong Kong (First State Stewart Asia). This split allows the two new successor teams to develop as smaller dynamic investment groups, recognising that this has been critical to our success. Both teams remain part of First State Investments, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia s investment management arm.

4 Our Investment Philosophy Stewardship: At the heart of our investment approach is the concept of stewardship. We believe our job is to allocate our clients capital to good quality companies with sound growth prospects and strong management teams, ensuring we pay sensible prices for these investments. Each investment is a decision to purchase, on behalf of our clients, not a piece of paper or an electronic ticker, but part of a real business with all the rights and responsibilities that go with this. We take these rights and responsibilities seriously. We also believe the way we behave as investment professionals and the role we play in the broader industry are important in this regard. Risk: We define risk as the risk of losing our clients money, rather than in terms of deviation from any benchmark index. We focus as much on the potential downside of each investment decision as on the anticipated upside. Long-term: We are long-term investors and strive to make investment decisions with a five year time horizon. We are incentivised accordingly. Bottom-up: We invest in companies, not sectors or countries. Our starting point is always to find good quality companies. Only then do we consider the political and economic environment in which they operate. Quality: We emphasise the importance of the quality of the management and spend a great deal of time focusing on areas such as management integrity, corporate governance and the historic ability to develop and execute successful long-term strategies. Quality of the business franchise and the financials are also critical. Growth: Our preference is to invest in companies able to generate a steady, predictable growth in cashflows over the long-term, recognising that companies growing too fast usually come unstuck. Valuation: We strive to ensure we pay sensible prices for our investments. We believe every company of sufficient quality has a fair value and that there is no single catch-all valuation methodology to assess this fair value. Important Information: This media statement is intended for information only, aimed solely at the media and should not be relied upon by private investors or Advisers. This document does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States or in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be unlawful. The content of this document should not be construed as a financial promotion under the FCA Conduct of Business rules. Issued by First State Investments (UK) Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registration number ). Registered office Finsbury Circus House, 15 Finsbury Circus, London, EC2M 7EB number

5 Stewart Investors is a trading name of First State Investments (UK) Limited. Telephone calls with Stewart Investors may be recorded.