By Tom Bradley

The manager of our Global Equity Fund, Edinburgh Partners Ltd. (EPL), has had a personnel change that is of interest to Steadyhand clients. Christine Montgomery has left EPL and joined another firm in Edinburgh, Martin Currie. While the firms are comparable, Christine’s role at the new firm will focus more on client service than research.

Christine was the manager assigned to our fund and was committed to helping Steadyhand grow. While we are going to miss her, we will still be in good hands. Robin Weir, the co-manager, will continue to oversee the fund until the new lead manager, Ian Cormack, can get his Canadian licensing in place. Robin and Ian are senior members of the EPL investment team and have over 20 years of experience in the business. They both joined founder Sandy Nairn when the firm started in 2003.

A little background is important. Each member of the nine-person investment team at EPL manages client portfolios in addition to their research duties. Portfolios with the same mandate (i.e. global equities in our case) are managed similarly, although the designated manager is responsible for executing on the team’s overall strategy. This involves managing cash flows, re-balancing from time to time and buying or selling stocks when there is a change to the model portfolio. The manager’s goal is to blend the client’s needs with the EPL model as seamlessly and smoothly as possible.

We hired EPL in 2007 because they have a deep, veteran team; a disciplined approach; and an excellent track record. While we’re always on alert when personnel changes occur at our managers, we don’t think this change in anyway weakens EPL’s ability to deliver excellent long-term returns.