Schroders Personal Wealth recruited the Morningstar analyst who had been responsible for assessing the likes of Neil Woodford and Mark Barnett at the fund ratings agency.
Peter Brunt (pictured) joined this month as head of manager research. A press release said Brunt would be responsible for “developing fund manager research and complementing SPW’s existing capabilities in the oversight of Schroders’ fund selection process”.
Brunt spent five years at Morningstar, where he focussed on equity strategies including those run by Neil Woodford and Mark Barnett, before joining Schroders Personal Wealth.
Morningstar downgraded Woodford Equity Income from bronze to neutral several weeks before the fund’s suspension in June 2019. At that point it downgraded the fund again to negative.
Barnett’s Invesco High Income fund was downgraded to neutral in November 2019.
At SPW, Brunt will report to head of investment management Alessandro Poli. Morningstar told Portfolio Adviser Brunt’s position would be backfilled.
See also: Schroders completes Lloyds JV transfer as Covid-19 jolts markets
SPW also nabs investment specialist for Manchester
Schroders Personal Wealth also revealed it has hired Jennifer Christian as an investment specialist.
Christian has previously worked at Quilter Cheviot, Deutsche Bank and Rensburg Sheppards. She will report into head of investment specialists Jon Wingent.
SPW’s chief investment officer Marcus Brookes said: “We are pleased to have such a high calibre of people join our business. With over 15 years’ in the investment industry, Peter is a very experienced leader with a proven track record in fund manager research and we look forward to further developing our efforts in this space.
“We recently announced the launch of our new regional hubs, this new structure allows clients to get a more personal and local experience, developing strong relationships with advisers and support within the hubs.
“Jennifer’s experience with advisers and their clients will be invaluable as we continue our growth across the regions.”
