For one, I’m still convinced SHAM will eventually deliver me my millions; and secondly I’m struggling to find one principle I stand for, let alone 10 of them.
Having never joined the party, SHAM has always been something of a wallflower anyway.
While fund groups have been, allegedly, disheartened by the Investment Association’s attempts to rein in executive pay, SHAM’s only indulgence is a clean shirt every morning (and the odd pack of Jammie Dodgers).
Speaking of sartorial tastes, to the unnamed PR executive who told me this week of her husband’s first foray in the murky world of chinos, I salute you.
It’s hard to fit in sometimes, isn’t it? I’ve been pretending to like rugby for the past fortnight, though now England are out I guess it’s ok to talk about football again? It’s amazing how many of my friends and associates have turned out Welsh.
The City can be a bit conformist sometimes, which is why it was so enjoyable to meet Sanditon’s Julie Dean this week.
Dean went through the tough decision to leave Schroders’ warm embrace – and billions of pounds under management – in order to step out to a boutique with, at last count, 11 permanent staff.
A proven stockpicker, who sticks rigidly to her process – the well-publicised Business Cycle approach – SHAM has recently invested in Dean’s TM Sanditon UK Fund as an alternative to the, perhaps more predictable, names in the more mainstream UK Equity Income sector.
Dean addressed me with a misconception about her being an exclusively mid-cap manager.
“In 2007-08, the Cazenove UK Opportunities Fund had 35 stocks and was 99% invested in the FTSE 100 with no banks and no miners,” she said.
