According to the industry magazine Investment Week, over 120 fund managers either moved jobs, resigned, retired or were made redundant during the last year. The figures are slightly higher than last year.
Our View
The number of fund managers that moved from one company to another last year was 70. This should be a reminder for investors to review the funds they are invested in. A few investors swear by their fund manager and will move from company to company when they change jobs. However, these are the minority of people that actually have the time to research the track record and objectives of the manager.
For the majority of investors the fund manager will be unknown and they will be relying on advice (or luck) to achieve returns. We believe that whilst certain fund managers are exceptionally talented, no one can predict the future. Managing the fund to set objectives to produce returns is fine - until either of them change.
Our advice is to take into account the track record of the fund manager, the fund and also consider charges and the overall track record of the company. If, overall they have performed above average in all types of markets, you should not go far wrong.