Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at AJ Bell, comments:
“News that Mark Barnett is resurfacing at Tellworth will no doubt surprise a few people but it presents an interesting opportunity for Barnett to rebuild his reputation after the torrid last few years he had at Invesco. Paul Marriage and John Warren, who set up Tellworth, are shrewd investors and will no doubt see the opportunity to work alongside someone as experienced as Barnett as one that has the potential to really help grow the business from the strong start it has had in its initial focus on smaller companies and then taking on the Sanditon funds.
“For Barnett, this is the opportunity for him to prove he still has the ability to deliver strong UK equity returns for investors without the shadow of his previous roles hanging over him. Taking on the funds at Invesco formerly managed by Neil Woodford was always going to be a difficult challenge for anyone and perhaps inevitably it played out that way, although I’m sure Barnett will admit that he made some mistakes along the way too. The opportunity now, to start with a blank sheet of paper, no legacy holdings and no unquoted companies that couldn’t be sold will no doubt be an exciting one. With attention once again building in UK equities and particularly those paying dividends, it will be interesting to see the shape of the portfolio and how Barnett settles into working in a focused boutique manager rather than the asset management giant that was Invesco.”