Neptune restructures

17 February 2015 - Neptune has announced that the company is undergoing a restructure, following a disappointing few years in terms of overall fund performance.

The overhaul of the research and business operations will result in around a third of the company's funds closing, as the management look to focus on a smaller range of key products.

The company has also revised its recruitment policy to focus on hiring experienced analysts rather than graduates, with 95 per cent of funds at the firm now run by a manager with at least six years’ experience.

Founder, Robin Geffen, said: “Since I founded Neptune, I have constantly worked to improve our investment process in order to deliver the performance our clients deserve, and stay true to our investment philosophy as the team has grown.

“I believe these latest initiatives will help our fund managers achieve exceptional performance in the years ahead. They will also equip our business to retain investment research talent in an era of highly focused fund flows – when it is not always possible to give bright young individuals their own funds to manage.”

Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea, comments: “We are in favour of fund houses which are not afraid to take a look at their process and make improvements where necessary, so we welcome the restructuring taking place at Neptune.

“The company has launched a number of esoteric funds in recent years, which have naturally remained fairly small funds, so reducing their product range seems sensible and will allow them to concentrate on those areas in which they excel. They have also been renowned for youthful managers, which have been home grown. Adding more experienced managers into the mix is a good idea.

“Neptune had four funds in our latest RedZone, but it hasn't all been bad there, and they have a couple of very good funds – both the UK Mid Cap and Russia & Greater Russia funds are on the Chelsea Selection.”