Appointment of two new global managers

RNS Number : 3641U

Witan Investment Trust PLC

02 December 2013

 



WITAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

2 December 2013

Portfolio Changes: Appointment of two new global managers

Witan Investment Trust plc has appointed Pzena Investment Management ("Pzena") and Tweedy, Browne Company LLC ("Tweedy, Browne") to manage global equity portfolios with a total value of £190 million.

The mandate for Pzena will account for approximately £145 million and be run in line with their Global Expanded Value strategy. The Tweedy Browne mandate will account for approximately £45 million and will be run in accordance with the Tweedy, Browne Global High Dividend strategy. A video explaining the changes can be viewed on the Company's website http://www.witan.com/video-centre/witan-appoints-new-managers 

Pzena, which is based in New York, began managing assets in 1996. At 31 October 2013 the firm managed $23.4 billion in assets. They employ a disciplined 'deep value' approach incorporating fundamental research, selecting companies from within what they assess to be the best value fifth of the market and selling when they rise above the market average valuation. The Expanded Value strategy is a portfolio that seeks high long-term alpha from a global portfolio of 60-90 companies.

Tweedy, Browne, established in 1920, is based in Stamford, Connecticut and has assets under management of $19.0 billion (as at 30 September 2013). They employ a fundamental 'bottom-up' research and analysis process, underpinning their longstanding and disciplined value investing approach. Although generally closed to new investment at this time, they have agreed to accept a modest allocation from Witan, to be invested in line with their Global High Dividend strategy, which holds approximately 40 stocks with an emphasis on secure and growing dividend yields.

These two mandates - which represent approximately 13% of the Witan Investment Trust portfolio - will be funded from the portfolios previously managed by Thomas White International and Southeastern Asset Management Inc.

Andrew Bell, Chief Executive of Witan Investment Trust says:

"These two appointments signal a continuation of our move towards investing more with specialist managers who have fundamentally-based and high-conviction approaches towards adding value through stock picking and portfolio construction.

We would also like to thank Southeastern and Thomas White for their stewardship of the Company's assets over the past nine and six years respectively."

- ENDS -

For further information please contact:

Andrew Bell, Chief Executive Officer

Witan Investment Trust plc

Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

James Frost, Marketing Director

Witan Investment Trust plc

Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

Jain Castiau, Director

Cauldron Consulting

Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

Notes

Witan Investment Trust plc

Established in 1909, Witan is one of the UK's largest investment trusts, managing £1.4bn (source: Witan, as at 30.09.2013) on behalf of over 30,000 investors. Witan operates a multi-manager structure and currently has 11 appointed managers. For details see www.witan.com/about-the-trust .

Witan is listed in the 'Global Growth' sector and is a member of the FTSE 250 index. Witan is rated 5 star by Morningstar and has a Silver Morningstar Analyst rating. Registered as an Investment Company in England No 101625. Further information may be found at www.witan.com  

Pzena Investment Management

Pzena Investment Management, an independent registered investment management firm, began managing assets in 1996. Pzena employs a classic value investment approach and manages U.S., non‐U.S. and global portfolios with a goal of long‐term alpha generation. As of 31^st October, 2013, Pzena managed approximately $23.4 billion in assets for leading endowments, foundations, pension plans and individual investors. The team comprises 71 employees; the firm is based in New York City, and has a representative office for Business Development and Client Services in Melbourne, Australia.

Tweedy, Browne Company LLC

Tweedy, Browne Company LLC is principally engaged in the management of international, global and global high dividend equity portfolios for institutional and individual clients.  Since the firm was founded in 1920 as Tweedy & Co., as a dealer in closely held and inactively traded securities, they have pursued a value oriented approach to securities, first as a market maker, and later, as an investor and manager.  Their investment principles are based upon the broad concepts of "intrinsic value" and "margin of safety" as conceived and practiced by the late Benjamin Graham.  For more than ninety years, through depressions, recessions, and stock market cycles, through a quadrupling of interest rates and the advent of double digit inflation, and through the emergence and disappearance of numerous investment fads, they have adhered to the same value oriented principles of analysis and investment.  The consistency of their results over many decades has confirmed their confidence in this approach. As of 30^th September 2013 Tweedy, Browne had assets under management of $19.0 billion.

 

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