Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at investment platform AJ Bell, comments:
“The surprise departure of Stephen Snowden and David Ennett is a serious blow for Kames Capital, especially having lost David Roberts and Philip Milburn last year. This has really ripped the heart out of the experienced team at Kames and leaves their capability significantly weaker.
“As a result of these departures, investors will need to think hard about whether the capability is strong enough in the short term or whether they would be better served looking elsewhere. We removed the Kames fixed interest funds from our Favourite funds list last year amid concerns over the team and sadly we have been vindicated.
“Investors who do decide that they want to look elsewhere, could consider the TwentyFour Corporate Bond fund, the Artemis Strategic Bond fund and the Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond fund. All have very experienced managers at the helm and are significantly cheaper than the Kames equivalent.”