Gosling's Grouse: Following the star

Following the star

It has always seemed to me vaguely illogical and contradictory how much importance the industry places on the ‘star fund manager.'

In the aftermath of the dot.com crash, many groups went out of their way to eschew the cult of the star manager as a few were badly burnt, along with investors, by following such individuals. Yet we now seem to have come full circle, with the star manager back in vogue, and certain groups of investors happy to follow the manager wherever he, or she, goes. The past 12 months have perhaps been unusual, with what you might call three ‘stars’ all moving in a short space of time. Schroders’ Richard Buxton has joined Old Mutual, Neil Woodford has set up his own shop, and Graham French ha...