The pair will move to Artemis Investment Managers later this year. Artemis’ senior partner, Mark Tyndall, said: “We have already broadened what we offer our clients. Cormac and Stephen will allow us to add North American equities to our range for the first time."
Diane Sobin will replace Weldon as head of US Equities at Threadneedle reporting to Leigh Harrison, head of equities. Sobin joined Threadneedle in 2011 and had previously been co-manager with Weldon on the Threadneedle American Smaller Companies fund. She will assume lead manager responsibilities for this fund, and the Threadneedle American Select fund.
Nadia Grant, who joins Threadneedle from JP Morgan Asset Management on 3 February 2014, will become lead manager on the Threadneedle American fund. Ashish Kochar and Neil Robson will become co-managers of the Threadneedle American Extended Alpha Fund and the Threadneedle American Absolute Alpha Fund. Kochar and Robson currently manage the Threadneedle Global Extended Alpha fund.
The group plans to invest in the London-based team, but will also increase its collaboration with Columbia Management’s US Equities team. Columbia Management is the US-based asset management subsidiary of Threadneedle’s parent company, Ameriprise Financial. Threadneedle and Columbia manage a combined $117bn AUM in US Equities, with 56 Portfolio Managers and 58 analysts located in London and across the US.
The £2.35bn Threadneedle American Select fund is second quartile over one and three years, having returning 46.1% over three years against a IMA North America sector average of 39.8%. The American fund is top quartile over one and three years, while the American Smaller Companies fund is second quartile over one year and third quartile over three years.
