Portfolio Management Team Update

Foord’s multiple-counsellor system allocates the management of each investment portfolio to two or more portfolio managers. The firm annually reviews the optimal fund manager complement, considering the skill set available and capacity of the individual managers. We provide an update on the 2018 team.

We reported earlier in the year on the multiple-counsellor changes made at the beginning of last year that resulted in William Fraser joining Dave Foord and Daryll Owen on South African multi-asset mandates and Dave Foord joining Nicholas Balkin and Brian Davey on South African equity mandates. Accordingly, all key South African investment strategies were shared between three portfolio managers. Abroad, five portfolio managers shared responsibility for the Foord Global Equity Fund and two for the Foord International Fund.

Mike Townshend has shared responsibility for the management of personal investment portfolios with Brian Davey for the past five years and has built good relationships with these investors. Mike has enjoyed a two-year secondment with his family to Foord’s Singapore office and returned late last year to assume the leadership of the personal investment portfolio initiative ahead of Brian’s departure in March 2018 – after an impressive 23 years with Foord, Brian will be taking well-deserved retirement. Darryl Owen now also joins the SA-equity multiple-counsellor portfolio management team of Nicholas Balkin and Dave Foord.

Foord Asset Management Singapore and the Foord Global Equity Fund achieved their fifth anniversaries last year. The Foord Global Equity Fund has had a stable multiple-counsellor portfolio team under Dave Foord as Chief Investment Officer for the last three years and it has achieved very good performance results in this time.

South African portfolio manager Nicholas Balkin was part of that portfolio management team, but he will now focus his full efforts on South African portfolios. Accordingly, he joins the South African multi-asset portfolio team of Dave Foord, Daryll Owen and William Fraser. The remaining four Foord Global Equity Fund portfolio managers continue in their role. The Foord International Fund continues to be managed by Dave Foord and Brian Arcese with no changes expected. And, as always, a highly skilled team of investment analysts supports the portfolio managers in South Africa and abroad.