Hamish Douglass has left the Magellan building but will return through the back door for guest appearances in a new consulting role come October.
In an ASX release last week, Magellan confirmed Douglass would officially end full-time employment on June 15 with the firm he co-founded before returning as a specialist consultant in October.
Douglass would “provide valuable investment insights, including geopolitical and macro-economic views” in a consulting gig that allows him to “deliver his expertise to investors free from board, management and portfolio responsibilities”, the statement says.
Magellan chair, Hamish McLennan, said in the release: “The board and Hamish have carefully considered the right balance for Hamish, for Magellan and most importantly for clients as they navigate global markets.”
The Australian global fund powerhouse has been through a rough period from late last year that saw the shock resignation of chief executive, Brett Cairns, plus a string of institutional mandate losses starting with UK financial advisory client, St James Place, that pulled A$23 billion portfolio from the manager in December.
In February this year Douglass stepped down as chief investment officer citing health reasons and left the board the following month, triggering further mandate losses.
From a high of more than A$113 billion in early December 2021, Magellan has seen funds under management slump to A$65 billion as at the end of May, down from A$68.6 billion over the month.
While the group’s Australian equities (managed under the Airlie brand) and listed infrastructure portfolios have remained virtually static over the five-month period – holding around A$9 billion and A$20 billion, respectively – the Magellan global shares assets more than halved from A$84 billion at peak to just A$35 billion by the latest count.
Incoming Magellan chief executive officer, David George, will now start almost a month earlier than planned, the ASX release says, with his first day in the office set for July 19 instead of the previously scheduled August 8.
George doubles as Magellan managing director with company co-founder, Chris Mackay, remaining in charge of the group’s global equities portfolios, an interim role he assumed in February.
The flagship Magellan global shares fund was down almost 11 per cent during the March quarter, according to the latest Melville Jessup Weaver (MJW) investment survey, placing it sixth out of 15 managers in the growth category. Over longer periods the fund ranks near the bottom of the MJW global equities growth universe.
Despite the performance and corporate woes Magellan retains strong support among financial advisers on both sides of the Tasman. Magellan also has several large wholesale clients in NZ including the Generate KiwiSaver scheme.
The Magellan share price hovered around A$12.8 by week-end, falling about 14 per cent over the five-day period and far off the 12-month high of more than A$56.
However, while Magellan has been hit harder by idiosyncratic issues, other listed Australian fund managers including Pendal and Perpetual have also seen double-digit percentage share price falls over the year of -40 per cent and -20 per cent, respectively.