Spreadbury and Chatfeild-Roberts scoop OBSR accolade

Fidelity’s Ian Spreadbury and Jupiter’s John Chatfeild-Roberts were named joint winners of Outstanding Fund Manager award at this year’s OBSR Awards, held last night in London.

Spreadbury and his team run bond portfolios for Fidelity including MoneyBuilder Income, Strategic Bond, and Extra Income.

The manager said he tries to keep in mind investors’ needs on both the upside and the downside when running money. “As a fund manager, it is very important to remember what investors are looking for. One of the things I try to do is to always keep in mind that generally they want relatively low volatility, income and low correlation to equities. I aim to provide all those things by achieving a good balance between risk and return, without any nasty surprises,” he said.

Joint winner Chatfeild-Roberts and his colleagues are responsible for Jupiter’s £6bn Merlin multi-manager fund range, which has proved an incredibly successful offering for the firm in the 10 years he has overseen it. 

Taking the newcomer award was L&G’s Richard Hodges, while Mark Tyndall of Artemis scooped the award for outstanding contribution to the industry. M&G won the accolade for best investment house.

OBSR’s annual event recognises three individual fund managers and one fund group that have made a significant contribution to the retail investment field.

It said particular credit is given to those that have achieved consistently outstanding long-term returns which are in line with investor expectations.

All four of the awards are based on OBSR’s qualitative research, the firm said.

Investment director Richard Romer-Lee said: “Reaching our shortlist is a true reflection of the manager’s skill and dedication in what is an uncertain, volatile and competitive marketplace.

"The role of fund manager comes with intense pressure where everyone seems to demand immediate gratification, with the results laid bare to see every single day.

“This year’s winners of the Outstanding Investor Honour award, Ian Spreadbury, and the Jupiter Merlin team, have produced consistently outstanding returns in what is a very difficult environment to operate.

"Spreadbury has a very impressive record over the last 16 years combining protection of capital unprecedented among his peers and yet producing outstanding returns for his investors in a challenging asset class.

"The Jupiter Merlin team has worked together for more than 10 years and has built a range of funds from virtually nothing to a franchise which today accounts for over £6bn of client money. This huge growth illustrates their success and foothold in the retail fund of funds market.”

The 2011 winners are:

• Outstanding Fund Manager: jointly awarded to Ian Spreadbury, Fidelity, and the Jupiter Merlin team consisting of John Chatfeild-Roberts, Peter Lawery and Algy Smith-Maxwell

• Outstanding New Talent: awarded to Richard Hodges of Legal & General

• Outstanding Contributor to the Industry: awarded to Mark Tyndall of Artemis

• Outstanding Investment House: awarded to M&G