FE fundinfo Alpha Manager, Dan Hanbury has resigned as portfolio manager and partner of River and Mercantile after 15 years at the firm.
A founder of the firm, Hanbury runs the £634m ES R&M UK Equity Smaller Companies and £108m ES R&M UK Equity Income funds.
The UK Equity Smaller Companies fund, which Hanbury launched the in 2006 has returned just over 500% since launch.
He left the fund for a short stint but returned in April 2018 after former manager Philip Rodrigs was dismissed for misconduct. Since re-joining, the fund is up 51.4%.
Total return of fund since Hanbury returned
Source: FE Analytics
George Ensor, manager of River and Mercantile’s £88.3m UK Micro Cap fund will take over from Hanbury on the small-cap fund.
The micro-cap fund uses the same Numis Smaller Companies benchmark as the smaller companies fund and has outperformed the index by 62.8 percentage points since launch, making a total return of 143.4%.
Total return of fund since launch
Source: FE Analytics
There has yet to be a named replacement on Hanbury’s other fund – UK Equity Income. The portfolio is up 61.3% since he took charge in 2013, narrowly overtaking the UK Equity Income sector by 2 percentage points.
Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, said that “losing such a key player” could prove tricky for R&M at this early stage, but noted that Ensor was a strong replacement for the smaller companies fund.
He said that “serious consideration” would be needed for who will take over the UK Equity Income fund, whether that be a short term internal role or brining in a new manager externally.
Last month, R&M accepted a £98.8m all-share acquisition bid from AssetCo, the firm founded by former Aberdeen chairman Martin Gilbert.
River & Mercantile shareholders will receive AssetCo shares, although the deal still needs to be approved at the next general meeting.
An AssetCo spokesperson said: "We note the announcement made by River and Mercantile. Asset management is a people business and individuals leaving and joining organisations is a regular occurrence.
"We have confidence in the senior executives and the investment management team at River and Mercantile to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities and to continue to deliver for investors.
"We continue to work towards acquiring River and Mercantile with the approval of shareholders and regulators."