Hidden a few paragraphs down in OMGI’s press release on the introduction of its new “team-based approach”, the announcement that Cowley is to step down in June has inevitably occupied more column inches than his replacements.
His six years at OMGI is a good period in which to judge his investment success. Since taking on the £580m Old Mutual Global Strategic Bond Fund in June 2009, he’s been slightly behind his peer group – 37% growth versus 39% – in part attributed to his calls on duration.
“Cowley has been often feted by Old Mutual over the years but we just could not reconcile that with his track record,” says Ben Willis, head of research at Whitechurch Securities.
“His media profile was high, he certainly weighed in with some knowledgeable opinions on global bond markets, and he was an excellent presenter.
“However, we would often see mixed performance from his fund – usually periods of outperformance, which was then undone by a period of underperformance as he translated his next latest views on global bond markets into his portfolio. Because of this element of inconsistency, we never allocated monies to him.”
Still, more impressive is Cowley’s performance on the £190m Old Mutual Managed fund, which has climbed 63% versus 47% from the IA Mixed 40-85% Shares sector since he took over in September 2011.
Could Cowley follow a similar multi-asset approach at another group? It’s unlikely given, it seems that he plans to pursue a broader career path, including more media work (he has also written economics pieces for The Telegraph).
As for OMGI, it has recently bolstered its fixed income capability to 20 investment professionals. This is across both the absolute return/rates and liability driven investment team – headed by Russ Oxley – and Christine Johnson’s total/relative return team.
Chelsea Financial Services has maintained a hold rating for Global Strategic Bond Fund for the time being.
Managing director Darius McDermott says: “Johnson was elevated when Stephen Snowdon went back to Kames Capital in 2011, and has done well.
“She has proven to be at worse a safe pair of hands, if not one to watch in the traditional corporate and strategic bond sectors.”
