St James’s Place, the wealth management group, is making changes to its Balanced Managed Unit Trust, to take effect later this year.
The changes, which are subject to the required regulatory approvals, will see GMO (based in Boston) and Jennison Associates (based in New York) appointed as co-managers of the fund.
Chris Ralph, Chief Investment Officer, St. James’s Place, says: “The appointment of GMO and Jennison Associates blends two complementary investment styles and provides greater flexibility to allocate across asset classes over a market cycle.
“GMO will manage a value-oriented, asset allocation strategy – exclusive to St James’s Place investors – and will be responsible for 80 per cent of the fund’s assets. Ben Inker, the lead manager, has been with the firm since 1992 and has extensive experience in managing asset allocation and quantitative equity strategies.
“Mark Baribeau of Jennison Associates will be responsible for a relatively concentrated portfolio of global equities, representing the remaining 20 per cent of the fund. Adopting a traditional growth investing approach, his portfolio will target companies that are at an inflection point in their earnings and sales growth.
“These appointments reflect our continued commitment to selecting the best fund managers from across the globe and are a tangible demonstration of the benefits of our investment management approach. Our focus remains to provide clients with a diversified range of funds to meet their long-term investment objectives.”
