Star stockpicker Richard Penny ditches asset manager

Star stockpicker Richard Penny has ditched his asset manager Lansdowne Partners to move to Oberon Investments Group.

Penny and his investment team will join Oberon while continuing to manage the £28m CRUX UK Special Situations, the £21m CRUX UK Core and the £7m CRUX UK Smaller Companies funds.

Oberon, a little known name in the City, is a financial boutique comprising three divisions: Investment Management, Wealth Planning and Corporate Advisory & Broking.

Penny’s funds were originally managed by CRUX, which was founded by City veteran Richard Pease and taken over by Lansdowne in August last year after Pease retired.

Penny joined CRUX in June 2018 after over 15 years at Legal & General Investment Management, and is one of the most watched fund managers in the UK.

“Richard has a very good long term track record with a large part of his alpha coming as markets recover,” Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea Financial Services, told City AM.

“Given how out of favour UK small cap and AIM in particular have been, this is a strong move by Oberon. I understand that they will be hiring in distribution too.”

However, his funds have been significantly shrinking in size as UK markets have fallen out of favour, with Special Situations dropping from £176m to just £28m in the last two years.

Penny, his team, and his funds will all transition to Oberon from 13 December.

The funds were let go from Lansdowne through mutual decision, with their strategies no longer fitting with the firm’s long-term plans.

“I remain committed to all three funds and their existing investment process and believe this outcome provides continuity for all investors,” said Penny in a statement.

“I look forward to working with Oberon to ensure a seamless transition for our investors. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Lansdowne for their support, and I wish the business all the best for the future.”

Oberon CEO Simon McGivern said: “With a proven track record, Richard Penny is one of the UK’s best known fund managers. This transfer deal brings in a star fund manager who will no doubt be a very central figure in our young ambitious business. We are delighted that Richard has chosen Oberon for the next step in his career.”