Schroder Global Property Securities fund manger change

15 July 2014 - Over the past eight years, Schroders has partnered with EII Capital Management Inc, in the running of the Schroder Global Property Securities fund. Both parties have now decided that this partnership has come to a natural end and, in future, Schroders will use its in-house expertise to manage the fund alone.

To make this possible, Schroders recruited a highly respected Global Property Securities team, at the beginning of this month. Tom Walker and Hugo Machin, formally deputy head of global listed real estate and head of European listed real estate respectively, at Australian property specialist AMP, will manage this fund from 15th August 2014. They will have with support from Schroders' regionally-based analysts and portfolio managers.

According to Schroders, the investment philosophy and style of management will remain the same. The fund invests in a diversified portfolio of global equity and debt securities issued by property companies, as well as REITs. The out-going managers, Jim Rehlander and Al Otero, combined both top-down analysis and bottom-up stock-picking skills to construct the portfolio. They were supported by a well-resourced team, who have a network of contacts throughout the real estate industry, and also utilised Schroders' worldwide economic and direct property market research capabilities.

As a result of this change, the fund has been removed from the Chelsea Selection and downgraded to a hold, pending a meeting with the new management team.