Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust (FRCL) manager Jeremy Tigue has announced his retirement after more than three decades at the firm.
The manager of the UK’s oldest investment trust ran the Morningstar Silver-rated trust for 17 years, and will be replaced by Paul Niven at the end of this year. The trust has returned to investors an average annual return of 10% over the last decade.
"Launched in 1868, this fund pioneered the way for collective investing as we know it today," said Morningstar analyst Jackie Beard. "With Jeremy Tigue of F&C at the helm since 1997, this fund has consistency of management that is rare to see, and that’s despite a number of changes at the corporate level as the parent firm has been acquisitive over the last decade."
Following the announcement of Tigue’s impending retirement, Beard has placed the trust's former Silver rating under review.
In a statement released this morning F&C Investments said that Tigue had expressed an interest in retiring in second half of last year. Head of investment trusts for the firm Marrack Tonkin thanked Tigue for for his contribution to FRCL and F&C Asset Management during his long and successful tenure.
Simon Fraser, chairman of the Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust said throughout the succession planning process the Board explored a variety of options.
“After considerable and careful due diligence, the Board of FRCL is pleased to appoint F&C’s Paul Niven as the new fund manager of FRCL, ” he said. “We are confident that Paul is strongly placed to build on the historic success of the Trust, and we look forward to working with him in the future.”
The news comes just one month after F&C agreed to a £708 million bid from Canadian Asset Manager BMO Global.
The firm sufferend significant outflows last year, shedding £126 million in the final quarter of 2013 according to Morningstar Direct data and ending the year £820 million poorer than where it started.
Jason Hollands, of investment platform BestInvest said that Tigue would be a difficult act to follow.
„While the FRCL has rarely shot the lights out, it has proved itself a solid, well diversified core investment, with an impeccable record of dividend growth,“ he said. „Although this change comes at a sensitive time for F&C as it is under offer from Bank of Montreal, there is no need to panic. Paul Niven should prove a safe pair of hands on this flagship trust.”