The Morningstar Investment Conference takes place in London on May 15-16 this year. In the lead up to the event, Morningstar analysts are previewing their expected highlights from the two days of presentations and panel debates. Read analyst Anthony McDonald's top tip by clicking here, and Richard Whitehall's preview of Alastair Mundy's presentation here. Below, Morningstar fund analysts Amaya Assan and Muna Abu-Habsa outline why they're particularly excited to hear from BlackRock's Nigel Bolton.
Given the global stock market moves seen earlier this year, it will be very interesting to hear at the conference whether industry veteran Nigel Bolton's thoughts and views from a fundamental perspective have changed materially. We’ll also be keen to hear, from a portfolio management stance looking back at the first quarter of 2012, how his views were reflected in the management of Bolton’s BGF European and BGF European Focus funds. As it is, throughout much of 2011 it seemed that most European managers we talked to were making one main call: to underweight financials. It will therefore be good to hear how Bolton and his team tackled this challenging year across the board of funds they manage. Finally, going forward, we are intrigued to learn whether his outlook on the asset class differs significantly from current consensus and, given his strong focus on the unintended risks from a portfolio construction perspective, which we have a high appreciation for, if this presents some challenges.
Bolton joined BlackRock from SWIP in February 2008 with seven of his team members, providing greater stability to the European team at BlackRock. Bolton’s successful background in reorganising teams and instilling new investment processes, along with his impressive track record at SWIP, was precisely what was needed. He unified the research process and established easier access to analytical data as well as clearer communication channels within the team. The merits of these changes have become apparent over the last few years as the team’s analytical expertise and collaboration has reflected in the strength of performance across their entire fund line-up. We now think they are amongst the strongest European equity teams in the industry.
Register for the Morningstar 2012 Investment Conference here.