R&M UK Equity Smaller Companies and R&M UK Dynamic Equity lose Elite Ratings
This morning, River & Mercantile announced that Philip Rodrigs, manager of the R&M UK Equity Smaller Companies and R&M UK Dynamic Equity funds, has left the company following an investigation into a professional conduct issue.
Clive Hale, director at FundCalibre, commented: “This news is obviously a shock but the company has acted quickly and decisively. The good news is that the conduct issue was unrelated to the manager’s portfolio responsibilities and has not impacted the pricing of any of the funds he ran. This means that no client or investor has been negatively affected in connection with this matter.
“While we remain very supportive of R&M and the rest of the very strong investment team, the Elite Rating is awarded based on the performance of the lead fund manager. This means that both funds must unfortunately lose their ratings. We are familiar with, and a fan of, Dan Hanbury who is the alternate manager and indeed ran the UK Equity Smaller Companies fund until Philip took it on. So we will meet with him and could possibly reinstate the Elite Rating on this fund at a later date. We will also be talking to William Lough, who will take on the management of the UK Dynamic Equity fund. However, until he has established a three-year track record on this mandate, we will be unable to do anything in terms of the Rating.”
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