SIG has awarded the £45m mandate to US small- and mid-cap boutique Lapides Asset Management, who will take over from previous manager Epoch Investment Partners.
“[Lapides’] extremely thorough research process is a real asset which involves gaining an in-depth understanding of the companies they research and it is not unusual for them to monitor companies for years before the opportunity to invest arises,” said the fund’s portfolio manager Francois Zagame.
US equities now account for 22.1% of the fund’s portfolio, with the two other US mandates managed by QMA and Marsico.
Europe (inc UK) accounts for 25.7% of the fund, via Argonaut, Wellington, Mandarine Gestion and Schroders mandates. First State and MIR manage the fund’s 24.7% Asia allocation.
Gartmore has a mandate for the emerging markets equity portion of the portfolio, equivalent to 13.2% of the fund, with FuNNeX AM (via the Dalton Strategic Partnership) managed a Japan mandate equivalent to 10.7% of the fund. The remaining pair of mandates, totalling 3.7% of the fund, have been allocated to the JPM Global Financials Fund and the DWS Global Agribusiness Fund.
