So, when he gets a named co-manager for the first time on one of his UK mandates, it is understandable that a few eyebrows twitched upwards, especially when that co-manager has over 20 years’ experience as a fixed income portfolio manager himself and was, prior to the move, co and lead manager on three corporate bond funds with over £2bn in assets, and manager of over £5bn of in-houses life fund assets at Royal London.
Which begs the question: exactly how much should be read into the appointment of Sanjiv Vaid?
The analysts Portfolio Adviser spoke to all have taken Fidelity at their word that this is not a short term succession plan, but rather, a move designed to add to the bench strength of a team whose assets under management have grown exponentially in the last 10 years. Indeed, Vaid will be the thirteenth portfolio manager on the team when he joins in August.
What it does do, however, as Rob Harley, director of research at Tilney Bestinvest pointed out, is it: “answers some questions with regard to succession planning for Spreadbury who is now 60 years old.”
Rory Maguire, MD of ratings agency, Fundhouse, which just gave the fund a Tier One rating, said, while his firm really likes the fund, succession was one of the areas that was a little concerning.
“Fidelity is big on promoting from within, but the firm has made a few external hires, which is a little puzzling.” he said.
This is borne out in the report which said that while he likes to empower his colleagues, Spreadbury is busy.
The report added: “Spreadbury did point out that he has no people management responsibility and that, effort wise, Moneybuilder and Strategic Bond occupy most of his time. So, he feels he has enough time and can comfortably handle the work load. We are monitoring this.”
According to a Fidelity spokesperson, while Spreadbury has never before had a co-manager, he has always had a back-up portfolio manager in Ian Fishwick – lead manager on the firm’s UK institutional fixed income portfolios, with whom he continues to work closely.
Spreadbury, himself added: “I’m delighted Saj will be joining to work with me on these funds. His style suits mine and I think we will make a great team. I am fully committed to all the funds under my stewardship. These are large funds that continue to grow in popularity and it’s important that as the funds grow, we add support to the team that sits behind them.”
Working together
As to the similarities in their management styles, Vaid’s team-based framework at Royal London is similar to the one at Fidelity.
And, a Fidelity spokesperson said: “As Saj’s investment has a focus on bottom up credit selection that ensures drawdown risks and volatility are carefully managed, we see this as complementary to the approach taken by our UK fixed income funds and more broadly across our global bond offering.”
Harley added, however, that: “while Vaid’s experience cannot be denied, he has more of a focus on sterling denominated investment grade credits and a bias towards off benchmark and asset backed securities. Spreadbury’s investment philosophy on the other hand is orientated more towards on benchmark issues and also includes non- sterling denominated securities; he also covers European high yield.”
Brewin Dolphin fund analyst, Shakista Mukhamedova also pointed to Vaid’s focus on the unquoted and unrated space as a point of difference, but said, while it could open up a new area of exploration for the funds, given their mandates, it would be only a small area.
Exactly how Vaid’s role within the team will unfold over time is difficult to guess at present, although he is unlikely to have moved without a clear idea of what paths lay open to him within Fidelity. What is clear, however, is that Fidelity are taking no chances with a team that manages a significant portion of its assets.
