SLI's Kerr steps back from Global Advantage fund

Standard Life Investments’ Jacqueline Kerr has handed management of the group’s £517m Global Advantage fund to the group’s multi-asset team, led by Euan Munro.

The team, which runs the group’s £7.1bn Global Absolute Return Strategies fund (GARS), is taking over to allow Kerr to focus on her role as head of UK wholesale.

“As Standard Life Investments has grown organically, I have had to dedicate more time to the business side, so for this reason I have decided to step down as manager,” says Kerr.

“The multi-asset team has been phenomenal with GARS in terms of asset allocation and this is what it will do with the Global Advantage fund.”

Kerr will remain as lead manager on the group’s £242m Dynamic Distribution and £95m Managed funds.

“I can still devote the appropriate amount of time to the other two funds as I am not taking bets against the benchmark. I am trying to get the correct balance between capital growth and the generation of income.”

Kerr has managed the Global Advantage fund since 2001. Over the three years to 4 April, it has matched the IMA Balanced Managed sector average, returning 14.3%.

The group is also planning to expand the MyFolio range it launched last year with the introduction of an absolute return suite of portfolios for the GARS team. Since launch last September the range of 15 active and passive risk-rated portfolios has attracted £330m of assets.

Ex-Gartmore multi-manager head Bambos Hambi is set to take on management of the MyFolio range from Kerr.

“We want to utilise our strengths and with the GARS fund still being extremely popular with investors it makes sense to add absolute return to the suite,” Kerr says.

“We want to provide a complete range of advice models to provide an adviser all the tools to fully kit-out his toolbox."