Liontrust has added Natalie Bell as a fund manager to its Economic Advantage team.
Bell (pictured) will assist in stock selection and day-to-day management across the range, which includes the £5.2bn Liontrust Special Situations and £846m UK Growth funds, with a focus on small and micro caps.
Her appointment brings the number of portfolio managers in the team, headed by Anthony Cross and Julian Fosh, to six.
Bell joined Liontrust’s Responsible Capitalism division in February 2021, where she worked closely with the Economic Advantage team while leading the charge on engagement with investee companies.
Prior to this, she worked in EY’s corporate governance team for six years and was an assistant director at CBI.
Cross said Bell will be “instrumental” in developing the team’s approach to ESG “as this complex topic continues to evolve”.
“While the core tenets of the Liontrust Economic Advantage investment process remain unchanged, we recognise the increasing importance of ESG to our companies and our own investors,” he said.
“We have got to know Natalie very well over her first 18 months with Liontrust and have been consistently impressed with her strong analytical and communication skills in dealing with our investee companies. We are so pleased to bring her across into the fund management team.”
After enjoying a massive growth spurt, thanks to demand for its sustainable funds and several strategic M&A deals, Liontrust has seen a sharp reversal of fortunes in 2022.
Its shares are down 55% year-to-date, far worse than rival FTSE asset managers, and it has suffered net outflows for the past two quarters, with investors yanking £500m in the three months to 30 June.
Cross and Fosh’s UK franchise, the second largest behind Liontrust’s sustainable range, has seen assets tumble from £10.2bn at the end of December to £8bn at the end of June.
The pair’s Special Situations fund has lost 6.1% over the past year, compared to the IA UK All Companies’ losses of 5.1%, but it is second quartile over three years and top quartile over one year.
However, their UK Growth fund has proved far more resilient and is in the top of the sector over all major timeframes.
Earlier this month, Liontrust transferred the £209m Liontrust Global Innovation and the £367m Liontrust Global Dividend funds from its global equity division, headed by Robin Geffen, into a newly-formed global innovation team.
Its Income and US Opportunities strategies, also managed by Geffen’s team, were moved to the global fundamental team, comprising the investment team that joined from Majedie.
