But, such is the cult of personality within the world of asset management that that is exactly what happened on Thursday morning. Miton Group shares plunged following the announcement after the market closed on Wednesday that George Godber and Georgina Hamilton had tendered their respective resignations from Miton.
There is no doubt the pair have done remarkably well since joining the firm in 2012. Their fund, the CF Miton UK Value Opportunities Fund, is first quartile over three years, up 62%, and has grown assets under management to £869m as at the end of March. Nor is there any doubt that the departure is a loss for Miton; the fund accounts for just over 28% of the firm’s total unaudited group AUM and is one of its growth assets.
And, while they are neither the first nor the last star managers to leave a company in a bid for greener pastures somewhere else (in this case Polar Capital), indeed just in the past 18 months or so we have seen moves by names like Julie Dean, Richard Pease, Jason Pidcock, Trevor Greetham and the rapid rise of Woodford Asset Management. But, what is somewhat sobering is how short their performance track record is.
While both Godber and Hamilton have put up strong numbers at Miton, they have only been managing money together there since 2012. And, while he has been in the industry since 2001, Godber’s fund management career only started in August 2008 when he started Matterley, while Hamilton joined him in 2009 as lead analyst on his previous fund, the Matterley Undervalued Assets fund.
Now, launching an asset management career six weeks before the collapse of Lehman Brothers is a good way to get a crash course in the difficult parts of the business, but arguably, since 2009, developed market equities have been in a bull market. And, while the sailing has by no means been plain there is a strong case to be made that managing money is likely to get harder rather than easier over the next few years.
