Anthony Bolton

Anthony Bolton (born 7 March 1950) is one of the UK's best known investment fund managers and most successful investors, having managed the Fidelity Special Situations fund from December 1979 to December 2007. Over this 28-year period the fund achieved annualised growth of 19.5%, far in excess of the 13.5% growth of the wider stock exchange, turning a £1,000 investment into £147,000. ^[1] Until April 2014 he managed Fidelity China Special Situations PLC, a London Stock Exchange listed investment trust.^[2]

Education and career

Educated at Stowe School and Trinity College, Cambridge, Bolton left with a degree in engineering and business studies. He pursued a career in the city where, age 29, he was recruited by Fidelity as one of their first London based investment managers. He is now President of Investments at Fidelity International Limited ^[3] and manager of Fidelity China Special Situations PLC.

Bolton began managing Special Situations (a UK equity OEIC) when he joined Fidelity in 1979 and continued until 2007. He managed other funds alongside Special Situations during this time. From November 1985 to December 2002, he managed the Fidelity European Fund (a European equity OEIC). He managed Fidelity European Growth fund (a European equity SICAV) from 1990 to 2003, Fidelity European Values PLC (a UK-listed investment trust) from 1991 to 2001 and Fidelity Special Values PLC (also a UK-listed investment trust) from 1994 to 2007.

In 2006 his Special Situations Fund was split. The success of the fund had brought in so much money from investors, it had become the UK's largest open ended fund (OEIC) and it was feared that the fund was becoming too big to manage successfully. ^[4] The fund was split into UK and Global Special Situations funds, with the Global fund passed to Jorma Korhornen and the UK fund continuing under Bolton's stewardship until the end of 2007. ^[5] With Bolton's step back from fund management, many questioned whether the fund could continue to outperform the market in future. ^[6] Sanjeev Shah succeeded Anthony Bolton as the manager of the UK Special Situations Fund in January 2008. The fund remained in the first decile over the first two years of Shah's tenure. ^[7] Bolton's former funds suffered amongst the worst redemptions in 2007. Investors withdrew £335m from the Special Situations fund and £508m from Global Special Situations. However, redemptions in both funds slowed significantly in 2008 and in March 2010, at £3 billion, the UK fund is almost back to the same size as when Bolton stepped down. ^[8][9]

When he ceased managing funds in 2007, he took a full-time role mentoring and developing newer investment managers.

Fidelity China Special Situations

In 2009 he announced his return to fund management and in April 2010 moved to Hong Kong to begin managing the newly launched Fidelity China Special Situations PLC, an investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange. ^[10] The Trust is fairly unusual among Investment Trusts in paying a commission (0.5%) to financial advisers, paid out of its 1.5% annual management charge, a feature standard with Unit Trusts such as the Fidelity Special Situations fund Bolton had previously managed, but uncommon in the Investment Trust world. Another unusual feature is that the Trust charges a performance fee if the fund's cumulative performance exceeds its benchmark, the MSCI China Index, by more than 2%, which is charged at 15% of any outperformance, to a maximum fee of 1.5% per year.^[11]

The higher than usual charges, along with uncertainty over Bolton's long-term commitment to the fund, have led to criticism of the fund.^[12] Despite this criticism, the fund has attracted high levels of investment, being fully subscribed at £460 million on issue in April 2010, and was initially trading at a premium to its net asset value due to high demand for the shares, whereas most investment trusts trade at a discount (in reflection of the fact that management costs damaging returns). A second share issue in February 2011 was also fully subscribed, raising £166.5 million.^[13][14]

Although initially performing well, the fund suffered in 2011, and as of 14 November 2011 it was 5th out of 6 trusts in its sector, losing 34% of its value in 2011 and trading at 78p, well below its £1 initial flotation price.^[15]

Private life

Bolton has three children. In his spare time he relaxes by composing music and cites Benjamin Britten as his biggest influence. His compositions have been performed at St Paul's Cathedral. He is a keen traveller and has a holiday home in Antigua. ^[16]

In September 2009 he was a guest on Private Passions, the biographical music discussion programme on BBC Radio 3.^[17]

Bibliography

• Bolton, Anthony; Davis, Jonathan (1 November 2006). Investing with Anthony Bolton (2nd ed.). Petersfield, Hampshire: Harriman House. ISBN 978-1-905641-11-6. 
• Bolton, Anthony (2 April 2009). Investing Against the Tide: Lessons from a Life Running Money. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-273-72376-6. 

References

External links

• "Anthony Bolton". Columnists. Financial Times. 
• "Why Anthony Bolton is Bearish Again". Independent Investor. 26 December 2006. 
• Bolton, Anthony (2 January 2008). "How far will the credit crunch go?". Daily Mail. 
• Hosking, Patrick (14 May 2008). "Former Fidelity guru changes tack to back banks". London: The Times. 
• Bolton, Anthony (13 June 2008). "Fidelity's Anthony Bolton speaks out". Fidelity International. 
• Farrow, Paul (11 July 2008). "Anthony Bolton is expecting many more rights issues and company failures". London: The Daily Telegraph.