Details of the fund manager change

On 5 September 2022, Martin Currie Investment Management Limited (Martin Currie), the investment manager for the FTF Franklin UK Managers’ Focus fund, announced that Colin Morton, one of the four co-lead managers of the fund, will retire at the end of 2022.  Following this news, the fund remains on our Recommended list.

Mr Morton will continue co-managing the fund alongside Richard Bullas, Ben Russon and Dan Green until the end of December 2022.  Messrs Bullas, Russon and Green are being joined by Jo Rands as the fourth co-lead manager.  Ms Rands joined the team in September 2021 and was previously a UK equity portfolio manager at Rathbone Unit Trust Management.  She will be appointed co-lead manager on 1 October 2022.

We do not expect any changes to the fund’s philosophy or process, but, as with any important development, we will monitor the fund’s progress closely over the coming months.

As a reminder, the fund is a flexible, all-cap UK equity offering that is designed to capture the team's best ideas within a single, carefully overseen vehicle. Each of the four managers is responsible for a 25% portion of the portfolio, ensuring continuous exposure to opportunities from across the market-cap spectrum.

For more information about the fund, please visit our fund page.

Further information about changes to the Martin Currie UK Equity team

Colin Morton is currently the head of the UK Equity team and specialises in UK large caps.  He is named as co-lead manager on various funds, including the FTF Franklin UK Managers’ Focus.

Following the news of his upcoming retirement, Martin Currie has announced new leadership roles, effective 1 October 2022:

• Ben Russon has been promoted to Co-Head, UK Equities (Large Cap).  He will oversee portfolio managers Jo Rands and Will Bradwell.
• Richard Bullas has been promoted to Co-Head, UK Equities (Small & Mid Cap).  He will oversee portfolio managers Dan Green and Marcus Tregoning, as well as investment analyst, Courtney Westcarr.

Messrs Russon and Bullas will report into Michael Browne, Global Head of Investment Strategy and Oversight, who is responsible for the oversight of all Martin Currie investment teams.

These changes follow the earlier retirements of Paul Spencer and Mark Hall.  The team has planned carefully for succession and, with this in mind, various hires have been made in recent years.

The team has always worked in a highly collaborative fashion, and we will be looking for this culture of co-operation, challenge and debate to continue.

Upcoming fund name changes

Martin Currie was appointed as the investment manager for this fund, together with its sister funds, in February 2022.

The firm is making changes to the names of the following funds that feature within The Adviser Centre, effective 1 October 2022:

Our website and factsheets will reflect these changes after 1 October 2022, following the collection of the usual quarterly updates.