Industry veteran Harry Nimmo has returned to Aberdeen Standard Investments’ global small-cap team in the fund house’s latest manager reshuffle.
ASI announced today (June 25) Mr Nimmo will join Kirsty Desson as co-manager of the ASI Global Smaller Companies fund following the departure of fund manager Alan Rowsell and investment analyst Imogen Harris.
Mr Nimmo originally launched the £1bn strategy in 2012 and remained co-manager between 2012 and 2017.
He also runs the £1.7bn ASI UK Smaller Companies fund and, according to FE Analytics, has consistently outperformed the markets and has a proven track record of delivering alpha.
Andrew Paisley, head of smaller companies at ASI, said: “Harry and Kirsty have extensive experience of the strategy and global smaller companies markets.
“We would like to thank both Alan and Imogen for their contributions to our smaller companies franchise.”
He said ASI’s dedicated smaller companies team had a “track record of success” and the “strong team and extensive experience” would ensure the fund would continue to deliver for clients.
Ben Yearsley, investment consultant at Fairview Investing, said the move was a “seamless handover” for investors, adding that it was unlikely to be a “long-term solution” so ASI was likely to recruit someone to co-manage the small-cap fund.
The ASI Global Smaller Companies fund is in the top quartile of the IA Global sector over a five-year period, returning 97 per cent compared to a sector average of 59 per cent.
Mr Nimmo’s UK equivalent has also done well over the past five years. It is the second best performer in the IA UK Smaller Companies sector over the past three years, returning 30 per cent — significantly more than the 4 per cent average achieved by its peers.
imogen.tew@ft.com
What do you think about the issues raised by this story? Email us on fa.letters@ft.com to let us know.
