LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CRUX Asset Management Ltd. (“CRUX”), the active equity investment manager, announces the appointment of Baillie Gifford’s Asia investment manager, Ewan Markson-Brown, to lead the firm’s expansion into Asia with two new equity strategies. Ewan will work with CRUX to establish a new office in Edinburgh.
The AAA-rated manager* regularly outperformed the MSCI Asia Index ex-Japan and was responsible for managing the Baillie Gifford Pacific Fund, which ranked in the top decile for one-, three- and five-year performance in its sector**. Since 2014, Ewan was also Lead Manager of the Pacific Horizon Investment Trust PLC (“the Trust”), which over five years achieved a 374% return for investors***.
Karen Zachary, CEO at CRUX, said: “Ewan brings great experience as well as an exemplary track record of value creation for investors in Asian equities. With the scalable platform CRUX has built over the last five years, his appointment will enable us to expand into Asia with complementary strategies that fit seamlessly into our core active equity management approach.
“Built on a commitment to fundamental research, an ethos of collaboration and a track record of outperformance across equity benchmarks, CRUX’s teams have the investment tools and experience to further diversify into new regions and broaden our investor base. We look forward to continuing to deliver the scale of performance that can only be achieved by active management with aligned investment aims to our clients globally.”
The appointment of Ewan will enable CRUX to launch two actively managed, long-term growth focused regional equity strategies in Q4 this year. Focused on Asia ex-Japan and China, the UCITS funds will seek to identify and exploit pricing inefficiencies in growth companies and capitalise on applying CRUX’s regional active equity expertise to deliver strong investment returns from Asian equities. CRUX will be hiring an investment team to support Ewan on the new strategies including two analysts covering Greater China/South East Asia and India.
Ewan has spent over 20 years managing Emerging Markets and Asia portfolios. He also co-managed the Baillie Gifford Emerging Markets All Cap Fund.
In March 2021, CRUX announced the appointment of Ashley Dale as Director of International Sales. Ash previously managed distribution at Asia specialists, Mirae Asset, Harvest and CLSA.
With £1.7bn AUM, CRUX is focused exclusively on active equity investing. Its teams across Europe, UK and Asia deliver bottom-up, high-conviction stock selection using proven valuation methodologies and intimate knowledge of long-term capital growth opportunities in specific geographies. CRUX fund managers align investment aims with those of its global clients by investing meaningful amounts of their own assets in CRUX funds.
CRUX’s proven investment performers include Richard Pease, fund manager for the TM CRUX European Special Situations Fund. Formerly Head of European Equities at Jupiter Asset Management, he then went on to become Director of European Equities at New Star Asset Management and subsequently Janus Henderson. Richard Pease is one of just 10 fund managers to be recognised in the FE Alpha Manager Hall of Fame for the last seven years. The investment team also includes Citywire AA-rated Richard Penny, fund manager for the TM CRUX UK Special Situations Fund and among the top decile of UK mid and small-cap equity managers.
*Source: Citywire Ewan Markson-Brown profile
**Source: Citywire Baillie Gifford Pacific Fund
*** Source: Citywire Pacific Horizon Investment Trust
- ENDS -
Notes to Editors:
A photo of Karen Zachary is available upon request.
CRUX Asset Management (“CRUX”) is an active equity investment manager with £1.7bn AUM. Established in 2014, the firm’s three core equity teams focus on Europe, the UK and Asia to deliver outstanding investment performance through bottom-up, high-conviction stock selection. Each team uses proven valuation methodologies and has intimate knowledge of long-term capital growth opportunities in the specific geographies where they invest. The fund managers align investment aims with those of their global clients by investing meaningful amounts of their own assets in CRUX funds and owning equity in the company. www.cruxam.com
