Two months after the sale of Majedie Asset Management to Liontrust completed, portfolio managers Adrian Brass (pictured) and James Dudgeon have left to join Artemis Investment Management.
To date, the focus had been on the “obvious overlap” between the UK equity strategies run by Liontrust and Majedie, and not their American sister funds, which makes the duo’s departure both unexpected and interesting.
Brass will become lead manager of the Artemis US Extended Alpha fund after he joins the US equities team in July. He brings 23 years’ investment experience to the role, having most recently been lead manager of the Majedie US Equity fund and co-manager of the Global Equity and Global Focus funds, which were launched in 2014.
Before Majedie, he was part of the US and global equity teams at Fidelity International.
Dudgeon will be co-manager on the Artemis Extended Alpha fund and contribute to idea generation across the firm’s US equity strategies. He worked alongside Brass at Majedie in a similar capacity, as co-manager of the US Equity fund.
Both will report to Cormac Weldon, who heads Artemis’ US equities team. Weldon has been, and remains, lead manager of Artemis US Select and Artemis US Smaller Companies funds since launch.
Will Warren, who has been with Artemis since 2014, will also be a co-manager of the Extended Alpha fund and remain lead manager of the Artemis US Absolute Return fund. He will continue to head the US team’s technology sector research.
Artemis’ CIO Paras Anand said: “Although focusing primarily on US Extended Alpha, Adrian and James will add to the strength of our highly respected US team. They will enhance what is already an outstanding capability in US equities; and will, I believe, bring significant value to our clients.”
Brass added: “We’re pleased to be joining a firm of Artemis’ overall reputation as active managers. Cormac and the team have a record that speaks for itself; and a reputation that is second to none. James and I are eager to add our own experience and complementary investment style, both to Extended Alpha and to the broader team.”
Warren added: “In Adrian and James we are fortunate to have found like-minded investors with a similar style and approach. I look forward to working closely with them on the Extended Alpha fund as we continue to evolve and enhance our shorting process.”
As a result of Brass and Dudgeon’s exit, their former Majedie colleague Hong Yi Chen is now listed as manager of the $202.7m Liontrust GF US Equity fund, on which he was co-manager.
