Andrew Bell (pictured) will retire as CEO of the Witan Investment Trust over the coming year after spending more than 14 years at the firm.
Since taking charge of the £1.5bn trust in 2010, returns have risen 295.4%, which is 23.4 percentage points higher than its peers in the IT Global sector.
Following this announcement, the board said they would launch a review into the multi-manager strategy that has been in place since 2004.
Chair Andrew Ross said the approach had worked well initially, but recent volatility has “eroded earlier outperformance”, making Bell’s retirement “an appropriate opportunity for Witan to review proposals for the future management of the company’s portfolio”.
“In more recent years the asset management and investment trust sectors have seen considerable changes in markets, competition, governance and regulation,” he added. “These pose new investment and communication challenges for independently managed investment trusts to address successfully and cost-effectively.”
Bell will remain in his role until the review is complete, with the current investment approach staying in place until then.
The trust’s current strategy employs 10 external management teams, the largest of which are Lansdowne Partners (18%), Veritas (18%), and Lindsell Train (16%).
