New hire Russon to take over Franklin UK Select Growth

Franklin Templeton's Ben Russon is to become lead manager of its £108m UK Select Growth fund next month as he begins to alter the portfolio following his move from Newton.

Russon (pictured), currently co-manager of the portfolio with Mark Hall, will take over lead management responsibilities in June, having arrived at Franklin Templeton in April. The manager, who previously ran the Newton UK Opportunities fund, has already begun slimming down the UK Select Growth portfolio with the assistance of Hall. The total number of holdings has been reduced from around 65 to less than 50, with all positions now accounting for at least 1.5% of the portfolio each and the focus shifted slightly higher up the cap scale. "The fund has had a bias towards large cap st...