Five future fund manager stars

Today, Warren Buffett—possibly the most quoted investor on the planet—celebrates his 87th birthday, with just under US$77bn in personal net worth. Not bad for someone whose annual income in 1944 was reportedly US$364 from a paper round!*

Buffett’s famous investing approach of buying cheap companies that he believes can be turned around has been studied, venerated and imitated all over the world. But often we are so intrigued by the industry’s most famous and successful veterans that we forget to pay enough attention to the rising stars – those investors and fund managers that may be the big names of tomorrow!

To follow Buffett’s principles, it pays to identify quality ahead of the curve! So we’ve rounded up five fund managers who we believe will be among the best of their generation.

Holly Cassell, co-manager, Neptune UK Mid Cap

Holly was the assistant manager on the Neptune UK Mid Cap fund before being recently promoted to co-manager. We’ve been very impressed with Holly. She is extremely knowledgeable about all the companies held within the fund, as well as the wider market, and answers questions articulately and with ease. Despite her youth, she gives the impression of being someone who has run money for a long time. Holly joined Neptune in September 2013 as an investment analyst, having previously qualified as a chartered accountant at Deloitte. She graduated from Oxford University in 2009 with a degree in philosophy, politics and economics.

Alex Savvides, manager, JOHCM UK Dynamic

Alex has shown himself to be a very talented and determined investor. JOHCM UK Dynamic is still virtually undiscovered by the broader investment community. Alex designed the fund himself and has run it since launch, managing to be consistent in all market conditions. Alex joined JOHCM in 2008, initially as assistant manager on their UK Growth fund, and has more than 15 years of industry experience. He has a degree in Politics from the University of Nottingham and has previously worked at Astaire & Partners and Numis Securities.

Chris Kinder, manager, Threadneedle UK Extended Alpha

Chris joined Columbia Threadneedle in 2010. He is also responsible for coverage of the aerospace and defence, oil services, mining and banking sectors and for idea generation for the wider UK equity team. Before joining the company Chris was an assistant fund manager at RWC Partners. He has also worked at Govett Investments, gaining experience in smaller companies’ analysis. Chris holds a degree in Modern European Languages from Durham University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. We think Threadneedle UK Extended Alpha is a great core UK equity holding, with the added advantage that Chris can short a small number of stocks if he wants to. He’s already got a great track record through different markets.

Douglas Brodie, manager, Baillie Gifford Global Discovery

Douglas graduated with a BSc in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry from Durham University in 1997 and with a DPhil in Molecular Immunology from the University of Oxford in 2001. He joined Baillie Gifford in 2001 and is head of the Global Discovery team. He’s been managing the Global Discovery fund since launch in 2011. The fund is pretty punchy and has a bias towards smaller companies with big growth prospects – companies that are benefiting from structural change, possess a disruptive technology or a desirable innovation.

James Thomson, manager, Rathbone Global Opportunities

James is a great fund manager who seems to somehow stay under the radar. He joined Rathbones in October 2000, having graduated from Cornell University in New York with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was appointed as a Board Director of Rathbone Unit Trust Management Limited in November 2006. He’s managed Rathbone Global Opportunities since 2003 and has evolved his process over the years. He added a defensive bucket of shares to the portfolio post-2008/2009 and has since delivered very good consistent results for investors. He’s also not scared to admit when he can’t add value somewhere—for example he rarely invests in emerging market stocks as he doesn’t have the access to research or know the markets well—he sticks to developed stocks and markets where he knows he can be good. We like that quality in a manager.

*Figures quoted in FinancialExpress, Happy Birthday Warren Buffet article