Sanlam Investments global equities head Colin McQueen has left the firm after nine years to join T Rowe Price, making him the third senior manager to leave in the past year.
McQueen, who has almost 30 years of investment experience, joined Sanlam in 2010. He led the global equity team and was lead manager of the Sanlam Global Value and Stable Global Equity funds since 2011 and 2012 respectively.
He joins T Rowe Price on 1 July as lead portfolio manager for the firm’s international value equity strategy.
Before joining Sanlam, McQueen was managing director and head of global value equities at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Prior to this, he was managing director and global value equity manager at UBS Global Asset Management, where he was part of a 14-person equity team overseeing $34bn (£27bn).
Disappointing losses
Jason Hollands, managing director at Tilney, said: “This is the second senior manager departure from Sanlam’s fund business in less than a year, having lost Craig Veysey and Francois Kotze of their strategic bond team last autumn to Man GLG last September, so I can imagine this is disappointing for them.
“I’m not familiar with Colin McQueen but his funds are managed with a value-driven investment approach, so have been out of step with the recent market environment which has been driven by growth stocks. However, I think increasing numbers of wealth managers and fund selectors are thinking about whether this trend will turn because value strategies typically outperform in the later stages of an economic cycle.”
Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen, said despite the personnel losses, Sanlam’s recent acquisition of Thesis Asset Management demonstrated UK chief executive Jonathan Polin’s (pictured) ambition to grow the business.
“While the timing of two departures is close, these look like two independent events,” he said. “There is always going to be a natural turnover of roles in any group and this is even more likely when a business is looking to grow and expand its operations.
“Colin is an experienced fund manager with a decent track record and has been at Sanlam for a long time so will not doubt be missed. However, fund groups operate as team and there are experienced managers to step and pick up the work so the impact should be manageable.”
Last week it was announced that Sanlam head of portfolio management Charlie Parker had also left the firm in favour of Albemarle Street Partners where he has become managing director.
T Rowe Price building UK presence
At T Rowe Price, McQueen will take over management of the global value equity strategy from Sebastien Mallet.
Mallet, who took over responsibility for the international value equity strategy in July 2018, will work closely with McQueen to ensure a smooth transition of portfolio management responsibilities.
McQueen will report to head of international equity and co-head of global equity Chris Alderson and co-head of Emea equity Mitchell Todd.
Hollands added: “T Rowe Price is a solid business, making good progress building its presence in the UK, so I can see that it is likely to be an appealing destination for a fund manager.”
Lowcock also described the appointment as good news for T Rowe, saying it will help strengthen its proposition in the UK market.
