A similar view is held by Gavin Haynes, investment director at Whitechurch Securities, who said: “I hold Richard in high regard but it will certainly be a challenge to be both CEO of a large business in transition as well as continuing to manage the multi-billion pound UK Alpha Plus Fund on a day-to-day basis.”
Richard Philbin, chief investment officer at Harwood Multi-Manager, points to Munro as proving that an individual can run a business as well as money, though he too has concerns.
“It’s nice to see again someone from the front office taking such a high profile role, although you have to question how much of his time will be taken away from the day-to-day responsibilities of running money,” Philbin said.
“It will be interesting to see if he strengthens the UK team.”
A more balanced view comes from Ben Seager-Scott, director, investment strategy at Tilney Bestinvest: “On one hand it is exactly right for people to be careful that fund managers don’t get overloaded. When we do our fund due diligence, one of the things we ask is how many mandates do they run and how many other duties do they have within the company.
“That said I also think it is important to let talented individuals grow and develop and from his move from Schroders, I can infer that it is not just about money for Buxton.”
