French has managed the portfolio since 2000, having joined M&G originally in 1989 as a geography graduate from Durham University. Earlier this year he stepped down as lead manager of M&G Managed Growth, also making way for Somel.
Both funds have underperformed over the past three years. According to data from FE Analytics, both funds achieved around 2% growth in that period, compared to 29% from the IMA Global peer group average (Global Basics) and 20% from IMA Flexible Investment (Managed Growth).
Always honest about his performance, French was known to call the summer of 2012 the ‘worst period’ of his investment career after Global Basics suffered from an overweight to resource stocks and a core holding in security firm G4S.
French said today: “Randeep and I have worked alongside each other for more than five years. He knows the portfolio intimately and is therefore ideally placed to be the next steward of the Global Basics concept of thematic investment.
“The next wave of emerging market growth is likely to be higher up the curve of economic development. I strongly believe Randeep is the right man to take the Fund to the next level.
“I will be available to Randeep as an adviser for the next six months, but he is now firmly in the driving seat. I will be watching closely, not least because much of my own pension remains invested in Global Basics”.
