Even in the dip seen during the spring and early summer this year Chatfeild-Roberts still marginally outperformed his peer group, FE data show.
According to Liontrust’s head of multi-asset John Husselbee, the role of CIO is not necessarily a good fit for a successful fund manager, with running a team a very different thing to running money.
“I’m not surprised by this,” he said. “When John indicates that investing is the real passion he has, then I agree this is the right move. Having been a CIO I know how much work is involved and how different the skills required are from those involved in investing money. I found that I wanted to get back to running money so that’s what I did when I moved to Liontrust, that’s what I enjoy doing.”
“It’s certainly good news for investors if more of John’s focus is on the funds,” Husselbee continued. “Funds are currently run on a return basis rather than risk, there is a lot of work to do to align to client outcomes. Outcome investing is becoming more important and more popular, with risk profiling at the top of the agenda.”
Harwood Capital CIO Richard Philbin broadly concurred. “I don’t know if it’s related to performance but I’d heard there were concerns about how things were going,” he said. “Being CIO is about running a team, developing individuals and managing how they work together. There is also a lot of reporting to the board which some may not enjoy. In this case, if Chatfeild-Roberts did not really suit or enjoy the CIO duties it’s a change for the better,” he added.
