St James’s Place has removed Majedie Asset Management from a pair of UK equity mandates that will be merged into a new fund to be run by a fleet of managers, including Baillie Gifford.
SJP said the UK Growth and UK General & Progressive fund, both run by Majedie, would be merged with the UK Equity fund, headed up by RWC and Columbia Threadneedle, and rebranded as the UK fund.
The newly combined fund will be run by six managers who will each have an equal weighting of the fund’s assets, which currently stand at £4.6bn.
While Majedie’s UK General & Progressive portfolio co-manager Blackrock secured a spot among the line-up, alongside UK Equity leads RWC and Columbia Threadneedle, Majedie was taken off the fund.
In its place SJP has appointed Baillie Gifford and LA Capital Management to the UK mandate, as well as Schroders, which runs the Managed Growth fund.
Majedie funds were flagged in SJP AoV report
The UK Growth fund and UK General & Progressive fund had been overseen by Majedie CIO James de Uphaugh and a team including, executive director Chris Field.
Both funds ended up on an “internal watchlist” after being flagged by SJP’s fund board for failing to deliver value in its debut assessment of value report.
Over the last three years, UK Growth has lost 1% and UK General & Progressive has returned 5.3%, while the FTSE All-Share has returned 6.8%.
However SJP’s UK Equity fund, run by RWC’s Nick Purves and Columbia Threadneedle’s Richard Colwell, has fared significantly worse, losing 6.6% over the period.
SJP said the changes were made with the aim of “improving the consistency of returns and potential for better long-term performance”.
SJP CIO Tom Beal said: “By merging three of our existing funds – UK Growth, UK Equity and UK & General Progressive – the resultant UK fund will offer a balanced mix of different investment styles that includes quality, growth and value.
“Blending managers in such a manner is intended to improve the consistency of returns and ensure that client outcomes are not determined by a single investment style being in or out of favour in the market.”
See also: SJP value assessment leaves questions over whether it has addressed FCA requirements
