Who are the ‘rising stars’ in fund management?

In the past few years, the ‘star’ in star fund managers has diminished somewhat. Many asset management companies have preferred to focus on the strategy and team behind an actively managed fund, rather than riding on the coattails of a standout individual. But that’s not to say there are no longer star managers, or indeed rising stars, within the asset management industry.

Genuine rising stars in fund management are a rare breed. Fund buyers typically focus on experience and long-term performance track records, making appointing junior fund managers a risk to asset managers. That said, the industry remains a people business. Individuals make investment decisions, and these same individuals typically communicate said decisions onto fund buyers. Bonds of conviction and trust are therefore unavoidably built between fund buyers and individual fund managers.

Looking across IA sectors over the last five years to the end of May 2025, we found that 52.6% of the 194 funds that have either newly launched, changed or added a portfolio manager during the period have since outperformed their broader peer group. Whilst the statistical significance of this outperformance is marginal, it does show that funds with shorter manager track records should not be discounted from the fund selection processes.

What makes a rising star manager?

A rising star manager blends that rare mix of youth, intelligence, confidence, opportunity and good fortune. Firstly, they need sharp intellect that can both develop and execute an investment process in ever-changing financial markets. Second, they need an ability to confidently articulate their investment approach, fund positioning and drivers of performance. Thirdly, they must get the backing of their business in being appointed a named manager on a fund in the first place. And finally, and perhaps the most difficult to achieve, they need a track record that evidences their investment capabilities.

Identifying rising star managers can be tricky for all the above reasons. We’ve therefore decided to dig into the outperforming funds and their managers and pull out some of the strongest.

New funds with new managers

Jonathan Golan – manager of Man GLG Sterling Corporate Bond and Man Dynamic Income funds

Perhaps the stand-out rising star in the industry, Jonathan Golan was plucked out of the Schroders fixed income team in 2021 following an excellent start to his life as a fund manager. His new employers quickly backed him with the launch of the Man GLG Sterling Corporate Bond fund in September 2021, followed by the launch of Man Dynamic Income in July 2022.

Since launch, both funds are top of their sectors, significantly outperforming peers thanks to the team's bottom-up approach to credit investing, in which they focus on smaller bonds which they see as undervalued versus larger equivalents. Investors have taken note, with both funds swelling in AUM to between £1.5 billion and £2 billion a piece.

Joanna Crompton, Timothy Woodhouse and Sophie Wright – managers of JPM Global ESG Equity and Danielle Hines and David Small – managers of JPM US ESG Equity

Launched in June and October 2021 respectively, these funds managed by Joanna Crompton, Timothy Woodhouse and Sophie Wright (JPM Global ESG Equity) and Danielle Hines and David Small (JPM US ESG Equity) have made an excellent start to life, outperforming their broader sectors (by 24.5% and 11.9% at the time of writing) since launch. This outperformance is made more impressive given the vast majority of the ESG investment industry has underperformed over the same period given higher interest rates and a cooling investor appetite for the theme.

Despite these funds being relatively concentrated at a stock level, the managers carefully construct the portfolios to ensure they do not overly deviate from their indices’ broad risk characteristics with respect to style, sector allocation and market capitalisation split. The secret sauce of the funds really comes in leveraging off JPM’s large equity analyst team and common approach to stock research, with an emphasis on best-in-class ESG credentials at attractive valuations. It is this bottom-up stock picking that has generated the bulk of the funds’ outperformance to date.

Rajiv Jain, Brian Kersmanc and Sudarshan Murthy – managers of GQG Partners US Equity

Launched in February 2021, this fund has a truly active approach to portfolio construction that enables the team to quickly rotate the fund’s style and sector allocation based on where they see the most compelling opportunities. Whilst the team do rotate, their approach is rooted in identifying companies with competitive advantages and strong balance sheets that should enable earnings to continuously compound – characteristics synonymous with quality investing.

GQG Partners remains a relatively young boutique investment management firm founded in 2016. Brian Kersmanc and Sudarshan Murthy are more recent acquirers of the ‘fund manager’ title.

Managers taking on an existing fund

Alex Savvides – Jupiter UK Dynamic fund

With 22 years in the market, terming Alex Savvides a ‘rising star’ may be a bit of a stretch, but he is both new to Jupiter and to this fund having joined the business in the second half of 2024. With regards to fund performance, life has begun very well at his new employer, delivering a return of 12.4% versus a 5.9% sector average over his first seven months at the helm.

While about 50% of the strategy’s assets under management left the fund in 2024 alongside the fund’s previous manager, Ben Whitmore, the remaining investors have so far been well rewarded by this UK value strategy.

Source: Morningstar (30 May 2025).