Slade Robertson, Devon Funds managing director, has stepped up his hands-on investment duties in a new job-sharing role with trans-Tasman shares portfolio manager, Tama Willis.
In a release last week, Robertson said he was now co-portfolio manager of the Devon trans-Tasman strategy along with Willis, who has been running the fund solo since 2016. Robertson was formerly portfolio manager for the Devon trans-Tasman strategy for six years before he assumed the managing director position in 2016.
After a four-year hiatus from day-to-day portfolio management responsibilities, Robertson returned to helm the Alpha fund – a strategy he also previously managed over 2010 to 2016 – in place of Devon chief investment officer, Mark Brown.
Robertson said in the statement that he was “very excited to once again be directly working on the Trans-Tasman portfolio”.
“Since returning to the role of Portfolio Manager for the Devon Alpha Fund in April, I’ve become increasingly positive on the opportunity set for Trans-Tasman equities,” he said. “This co-management structure will allow Tama and I to best represent our views in the Trans-Tasman strategy, and we’re very positive about the potential outcomes for our clients. We have worked well together on the Alpha portfolio as evidenced by the return outcomes achieved.”
According to the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) quarterly investment survey, the Devon trans-Tasman and Alpha funds reported funds under management of about $100 million and $130 million, respectively, as at the end of September.
Overall, Devon, founded in 2010 and now part of the Investment Services Group, manages more than $2.5 billion of retail and wholesale money including almost $400 million on behalf of the NZ Superannuation Fund.
Across the Tasman last week, Franklin Templeton Australia rejigged its distribution team following the parent company’s purchase of multi-affiliate shop Legg Mason this July. Following the changes, Felicity Walsh, previously head of Australia and NZ for Legg Mason affiliate hedge fund K2 Advisors, will lead the Franklin Templeton institutional and retail sales divisions.
Former Legg Mason staff, John Besley and Felicity Nicholson – respectively head of product and head of marketing – also reprise similar roles under the Franklin Templeton umbrella.
Matthew Harrison, Franklin Templeton Australia and NZ managing director, said in a statement that the newly merged group had “a strong foundation from which we can drive further success for our valued clients”.
“We remain focused on delivering better client outcomes by providing a truly diverse suite of high calibre active investment capabilities, global connections and local insights with a focus on innovation,” Harrison said.
According to AsianInvestor, Franklin Templeton/Legg Mason saw another two high-level departures last week in the region.
“Senior executives who have left or will be leaving include Mark Browning and David Chang, the Asia Pacific and Greater China heads at Templeton, respectively; Andy Sowerby, chief executive of Australian and New Zealand and head of Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) for Legg Mason; and Denise Ying, a former director of China institutional business,” the publication reported.
Vivek Kudva replaced Browning as Franklin Templeton Asia Pacific head.
Post the Legg Mason deal, Franklin Templeton was expected to reduce global staff numbers by 8 per cent, AsianInvestor says, saving about US$300 million in costs.
Franklin Templeton suffered the largest net outflows (of US$41.6 billion) of any global manager during the first nine months of 2020, the report says, citing Morningstar figures. Over the three years ending 2019, the US-based manager saw collective net outflows of about US$100 billion, the Morningstar data shows.
Franklin Templeton has a large exposure to NZ through an ANZ Investments allocation to a growth equities strategy (almost $2.2 billion, according to MJW) and the Legg Mason Brandywine Global Opportunistic Fixed Income Fund.