Vanessa Donegan is standing down from her role as head of Asia Equities at Columbia Threadneedle at the end of the year after 32 years at the firm and its predecessor companies.
Donegan (pictured) began her career at Grieveson Grant Stockbrokers in 1981 where she progressed to managing Asian investments. She joined Columbia Threadneedle (then Threadneedle) in 1994 at inception before being appointed head of Asia ex Japan equities in 1997.
She is lead manager of the flagship £612m Threadneedle Asia and £131m Threadneedle China Opportunities funds. The portfolios will be handed to new lead managers over the next few months with them expected to formally take over on 1 October.
Subject to the relevant approvals, the Threadneedle Asia fund will be co-managed by George Gosden and Singapore-based Soo Nam Ng. The Threadneedle China Opportunities fund has moved to co-management with Jin Xu, currently deputy manager, from the start of July. Jin will become lead manager from 1 October.
In January, Columbia Threadneedle brought together its regional Asian Equities teams to create an eight-strong team, led by Soo Nam.
Columbia Threadneedle CIO Mark Burgess described Donegan’s contribution to the firm and the wider industry as “immeasurable”, highlighting her as a role model to women entering the industry and as a mentor to young female talent.
He added: “She has been an investor through historically transformational times in Asian equity markets and has spearheaded our efforts to build an integrated structure whereby our Asian teams in different geographies collaborate with their investment colleagues across the globe.”
Donegan said: “I’ve been with Columbia Threadneedle since Threadneedle’s inception in 1994. During those 20-odd years it has been exciting to see the business grow into a global entity with a clear focus on developing new talent and building strong client relationships. I have also seen huge change in the breadth of investment opportunities on offer in Asian markets, particularly in the markets of India and China.”
The Threadneedle Asia fund has delivered a cumulative return of 9%, 50.4% and 74.1% over one, three and five years respectively, versus the IA Asia Pacific ex Japan sector’s 5.3%, 44% and 58.5%.
