Richard Pease joins Rockwood Strategic's advisory group

Well-known European equity fund manager Richard Pease has joined Rockwood Strategic's investment advisory group, where he will generate investment ideas and provide advice.

Veteran European equity fund manager Richard Pease has joined the investment advisory group of UK smaller companies trust Rockwood Strategic (RKW ).

He will work alongside manager Richard Staveley and other members of the investment advisory group, which includes Harwood Capital’s Chris Mills and Adam Parker, the co-founder of Majedie Asset Management, to generate investment ideas and provide advice.

Pease’ investment career spans more than 40 years. He founded European equity teams at Jupiter Asset Management in the 1990s and New Star Asset Management in the 2000s. After the collapse of New Star in 2008, he joined Henderson Global Investors - which took over the New Star funds - where he launched a European Special Situations fund in 2009.

The fund manager historically favoured European mid-caps, particularly those that are family-owned. Some investors will also remember his public apology after suffering poor performance post the credit crisis.

In 2015, he founded Crux Asset Management and brought over the European Special Situations fund from Henderson, which at the time had £1.2bn under management, giving the firm a strong asset base from which to launch. The business was sold to Lansdowne Partners in 2023.

Pease said he had been drawn to Rockwood’s clear investment philosophy which is ‘being brought to bear on what appears a highly inefficient and overlooked part of the global equity landscape, with genuine value on offer’.

‘UK smaller companies can and have offered some of the best long-term returns to investors. I look forward to supporting the strategy and the team in the exciting years ahead,’ he added.

Staveley added: ‘We don’t believe in committees at Rockwood, but we do believe in receiving advice from outstanding fund managers with decades of investing experience who want Rockwood Strategic to succeed.’

Shares in the £103m Harwood-run trust have returned an impressive 86% over the past three years, which compares to 12.4% by the average trust in the AIC’s UK smaller companies sector. It currently trades at a 1% premium.