Veteran UK fund of funds manager, Rob Burdett, will join Nedgroup to run a range of multi-asset products.
Nedgroup is the asset management division of Nedbank, a South African banking business.
It has a range of three multi-asset multi-manager funds for Burdett to run, with total assets of around £760mn.
In addition he will provide insight into the private client portfolios run by the company.
Burdett and his long-time colleagues Gary Potter, Kelly Prior and Scott Spencer ran multi-manager strategies at Thames River Capital, F&C and then Columbia Threadneedle, prior to exiting the latter business in April 2024.
FT Adviser understands that at present, there are no plans to launch new funds for Burdett to manage.
Tom Caddick, Nedgroup's managing director for investments, said: “Rob and I have known each other for years, though we never worked together as he tended to be on the other side of the table from me, as a competitor in the multi-asset and multi-manager space. But when we began to talk about this role, it was a real meeting of minds.
"Although multi-manager strategies have been a bit out of favour in recent years, we think they have a role to play and that we have a unique proposition in this area.”
Of his new role, Burdett said: “Joining Nedgroup Investments is an exciting opportunity. The firm’s ‘founder’s mentality’ and its investment-led, multi-boutique approach, truly resonates with my own values.
"Nedgroup’s culture of fostering long-term relationships and empowering exceptional fund managers aligns perfectly with my vision of driving performance and innovation. I have ambitious plans for the team and look forward to this new journey.”
Multi-manager funds have been somewhat out of favour in recent years as competition has grown from model portfolio services and discretionary wealth management.
But Ben Yearsley, consultant at Fairview, said if capital gains tax increases in the forthcoming Budget then the relative attractiveness of the multi-manager structure increases, and so it could be a good time to embrace such products.
He feels that funds which want to be competitive in this space need to be more competitive on fees than has been the case in recent years.
david.thorpe@ft.com
