Franklin Templeton Investments has added two research analysts to Colin Morton’s £3.8bn UK equities team in Leeds in a move being welcomed by fund pickers Portfolio Adviser has spoken with.
Marcus Tregoning (pictured) joins from Deloitte, where he worked as an assistant director in its lead corporate finance advisory team. In his new role, he will work closely with portfolio managers Paul Spencer, Richard Bullas and Dan Green, focusing on UK small- and mid-cap equity research.
Will Bradwell joins from Rathbones Investment Management, where he was previously an assistant investment manager and helped manage private client portfolios. He will be responsible for UK large-cap stock analysis, working closely with Morton, vice president and lead manager of Franklin UK Equity, and portfolio manager Ben Russon.
Mifid II plays on in-house research
Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen, said the pair provide different expertise and should help strengthen “an already excellent investment team”.
“Following Mifid II ensuring you have the right amount and quality of research has become more important. That Franklin are adding resource to an existing team suggests they are investing heavily into their research function which should help produce results for investors.
“It is good to see a business invest in what has made it successful, sticking to their bottom-up stock-picking approach and recognising to remain competitive they need to add resources to support their strengths.”
Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at AJ Bell, said the Franklin Templeton UK Mid Cap fund and the UK Smaller Companies funds are both on the platform’s buy list and he looked forward to meeting the pair soon.
Hughes said the team are hugely experienced with the core of them having worked together for around 20 years. “In recent years, more depth has been added to the team and these new appointments continue that trend, ensuring that there are strong foundations and emerging talent coming through.
‘Challenging political and macro backdrop’
Morton, who the pair will report to, said: “As bottom-up stock-pickers, equity research is crucial to our active management approach. The expertise that Marcus and Will bring across the breadth of UK equity market caps will provide additional valuable insight to support the team in our decision-making.
“Amid a challenging political and macro backdrop, focusing on companies with strong underlying fundamentals remains increasingly important for investors looking to generate sustainable long-term returns. We continue to see a diverse range of income and growth opportunities across the UK market, offering investors attractive returns relative to other asset classes.”
The Franklin UK Equity team manages six Oeic funds: UK Equity Income, UK Rising Dividends, UK Managers Focus, UK Opportunities, UK Mid Cap and UK Smaller Companies.
