Simon Rutherfurd joins the team at PM Capital and will be focused on finding investment opportunities with a concentration on industrials, materials and healthcare in his new role.
PM Capital chief investment officer Paul Moore said Mr Rutherfurd has strong cultural alignment matching with PM Capital’s investment philosophy.
“The investment world can be a lonely place when your ideas are not consensus thinking,” Mr Moore said.
“But the willingness to back our judgment and open ourselves up to the criticism of others is what has allowed us to produce a return since inception of 290 per cent versus a benchmark return of 171 per cent.
“The reality of the investment world is that we do not know what lies ahead in terms of risk and opportunity.
“However, what I can tell you with certainty is the underlying philosophy that guides our investments will never change.”
Mr Rutherfurd has more than 22 years’ experience in funds management and joins PM Capital from a role at Northward Capital where he covered stocks in the transport, healthcare, materials and media sectors.
His previous roles include senior positions at IAG Asset Management, Prudential Portfolio Managers Australia, ANZ Funds Management and BT Alex Brown.
“For me, the key to long-term investing remains bottom-up stock picking, capital preservation and avoiding sectors that are experiencing long-term downtrends,” Mr Rutherfurd said.
“Over any market cycles, the focus always remains to own stocks with solid prospect, sound fundamentals and good management.
“Currently there are a number of attractive local investment opportunities and I look forward to working with the team to introduce these to our investors.”
In terms of current market opportunities, Mr Moore said the financial stocks have approached fair value and resources will not build long-term capital appreciation.
“Our focus remains on the other 40 per cent of the market,” Mr Moore said.
“It’s worth noting that while the ASX200 gained 23 per cent over the past year, the small ords actually lost five per cent, highlighting the divergent returns that can exist within the Australian market.”
