Nichols joined Newton in 2001 from Wilton Investments and has been lead manager of the Newton Cautious Managed Fund since October 2009. He has been alternate manager of the Newton Higher Income Fund, lead managed by Tineke Frikkee, since 2004.
Julie-Ann Ashcroft will continue as alternate manager of the Newton Bridge Fund, a role she has held since April 2009.
Tye said of the change: "Following my appointment as head of our private client business we want to ensure that we continue to provide a high class service to our clients. A priority was to appoint a new lead manager to the Newton Bridge Fund who is experienced in managing multi-asset strategies in line with Newton’s global thematic investment process.
"As lead manager of the Newton Cautious Managed Fund, which invests in both equity and fixed income and cash, Simon is ideally suited to take over my responsibilities on the Newton Bridge Fund."
The Newton Cautious Managed Fund was launched in December 2009 and has just over £39m in assets. It has outperformed the sector in the year to 29 February, with a return of 3.12%, compared to a sector average of 2.48%.
But it has underperformed year to date and over six months and three months, ranking it in the third quartile over those timeframes.
