The award-winning Henderson fund manager Richard Pease has named New Star founder John Duffield as the person who has had the greatest influence on his career.
The respected investor, who recently scooped up the coveted Morningstar OBSR Outstanding Investor Honour award for 2012, began his long association with Duffield in 1989 when he joined Jupiter to run European portfolios. In 2001 he helped Duffield set up New Star Asset Management and managed the New Star European OEIC.
Pease, currently director of European equities at Henderson, said the entrepreneurial environment Duffield fostered pushed him to excel at running money.
“Duffield was my old boss, I worked for him for a long time,” he said. “The great thing about working for an eccentric entrepreneur is you have a ‘can do’ approach. It is different from getting lost in a big organisation.”
As well as a positive attitude, Pease said investors needed to have the courage to stand by their convictions, and the humility to admit when they are wrong.
“Despite the vagaries of fashion, you need the courage to do things that are unfashionable," he said. "You need humility. You have to identify the qualities you need in a business – what kind of business would you leave your children?"
One change Pease has noticed during his career is an improving environment for company shareholders, and increased professionalism.
“The reason I ended up gravitating towards small- and mid-caps is because you can end up being quite abused as a shareholder where politics is involved," he said.
"In the past, big companies were not being run for the shareholders and not pressured by the shareholders. One had to get involved with companies where their money was aligned with yours."
Pease manages the Gold-rated Henderson European Growth fund, the Silver-rated Henderson European Special Situations fund and the Gold-rated Henderson Horizon European Growth fund.
To read about other Morningstar OBSR award winners, read "Nimmo and Pease Win Outstanding Investor Honours".
The original version of this article was written by Hannah Smith and published September 2012 by Investment Week.