To be renamed as Downing Diversified Global Managers Fund, the £19m vehicle – previously open only to SG Wealth Management’s clients – is to be marketed to the IFA community.
Downing is currently in the process of changing the fund’s ACD from Marlborough Fund Managers to Phoenix Fund Managers. Once completed, Alyx Wood – second to Judith MacKenzie on PFS Downing UK Micro-Cap Growth Fund – will become lead manager.
Shillito has run MFM SGWM Managed since its inception eight years ago, with the focus on good risk-adjusted returns with low maximum drawdowns.
While still a director at SG Wealth, Shillito said the “main thrust” of his work will now be on a consultancy basis working alongside Wood at Downing.
“With the FCA keen to see a much closer fit between a client’s attitude to investment risk and the portfolio they are invested in, we at SG Wealth opted for graded model portfolios and that in turn has meant that the Managed fund no longer fits our core proposition,” he said.
“The fund has moved to Downing because it means that we have the continuity for our own clients, and are able then to leverage off Downing’s greater resources and to promote the fund outside just the remit of SG clients, and actively market the fund into the IFA arena.”
While the fund’s remit will not change significantly, Wood and Shillito plan to bring in an element of alpha generation through moving towards a more disciplined pairing approach.
For example, a large-cap growth fund could be paired with a small-cap value fund, or a broad global emerging markets fund paired with a single-strategy India fund.
Downing’s UK Micro-Cap Growth Fund is already a significant holding within the portfolio, as well as UK income propositions from Rathbones, RLAM and FundSmith.
Overseas equity holdings include JPM US Equity Income, Jupiter European, Schroder Tokyo, and First State Global Emerging Markets, while a recent addition is Natixis H20 Multi-Returns.
