I’ve always been wary of so-called ‘Star Fund Managers’. These are (usually) guys who become so famous for their fantastic fund performance that they attract followers and investors in their own right and, in more often than not set up on their own and name their company after themselves. Older readers will remember Fidelity’s Anthony Bolton, who ran their Special Situations Fund in until the early ‘00s. He gave that up and was allowed to do his own thing (a China fund), which came to nought. Neil Woodford has become a watchword for how not to do it, and I won’t comment on the spectacular downfall of Crispin Odey, thought a Midas by many for rather too long. I recently encouraged a client to move funds from another named-after-the-manager firm; she’s not happy that her money would have done much better (in the last 6 months) had she left it there, rather than moving to my comparatively boring, recommended fund. I’m happy that boring will turn out to be best the best option, quite possibly sooner rather than later.
