In this episode of the Fund Selectors Podcast, host Lucy Walker interviews Hannah Evans, Head of Manager Research at Omnis Investments.

The conversation centres around fund idea generation, manager selection, and the processes Hannah’s team undertakes when overseeing £11 billion of assets across various mandates. Key themes include the meticulous approach to filtering managers, adapting processes to each search, and the importance of transparency from asset managers.

The episode highlights the challenges of balancing fund and manager oversight, navigating manager transitions, and Hannah’s focus on building long-term, sustainable relationships with managers.

Timestamps:

0:04 - Introduction by Lucy Walker

0:23 - Guest introduction: Hannah Evans

3:04 - Hannah’s journey into fund research

5:00 - Meeting with fund managers

7:00 - Managing Omnis’ funds

10:07 - The unpredictability of manager changes

12:24 - Conducting a recent manager search at Omnis

16:30 - Filtering down over 300 fund candidates

19:00 - The “RFP light” process for narrowing down managers

23:39 - Importance of consistent process and long-term conviction

30:06 - Identifying key person risk in fund managers

37:00 - Feedback to asset managers: honesty is key

49:05 - Closing remarks on fund selection