His fund has been taken over by Ken Hsia, who has been deputy on it for the past 10 years.
Morningstar data shows the fund is top quartile over one, three and five years, returning 81.2% over three years to 20 January versus the IMA UK Smaller Companies sector average of 61.6%. It has a focus on companies with a market capitalisation of £30m to £1bn, and has been managed by Rodrigs and Hsia using Investec’s ‘4 Factor’ investment process, seeking high quality companies which are cheaply valued, delivering earnings higher than market expectations and where the market is responding positively to those changes.
In November 2012 Investec moved to slow inflows into the vehicle, stopping short of soft closing but no longer promoting it and discouraging new investment. Rodrigs also took over management of the Investec UK Alpha fund in April that year.
An Investec spokesperson said he is leaving “To pursue other opportunities”.
Rodrigs will join River and Mercantile Asset Management LLP as a partner for a role in the UK Equity Division headed by Hugh Sergeant. His position will commence on 14 March following the completion of his statutory notice period and will take on the management of the £150m UK Equity Smaller Companies fund, currently managed by Hanbury, in September 2014.
River and Mercantile manages specialist UK and Global equity portfolios on behalf of institutional and wholesale clients, who invest in both pooled and segregated accounts in the UK, Australia and the US.
