PA Adviser spends a week in the life of Rob Burdett, head of multi-manager at Nedgroup Investments. Week commencing 24 February.
Monday
07:15: I collect my free flat white coffee courtesy of a voucher my partner has kindly sent me – a result of Vitality recognising her weekend activity levels. A value start to the week then, although as a multi-manager I am partial to a range of investment styles.
07:30: At my desk, a touch of routine first, before the peripatetic aspects of life as a multi-manager take over. I like to start my day with a quick look back at the previous working day’s meetings and think about how my thoughts are settling on any manager meetings etc. Then speed-read a few favoured items – anything from The Daily (Jim) Reid to must-read fact sheets from the likes of JK or Lazard for Japan, to thought pieces from GQG.
Around 09:00: Our team of seven gathers around the warmest of our hot desks for a catch up. It’s a newish building but I think the landlord is saving on the heating bill….
Tom or Niall will give us their thoughts on markets – how quickly will Trump and/or AI feature? We drag ourselves towards the medium-term focus of our portfolio views. I’ve been at Nedgroup Investments for four months now and enjoy getting to know my new team at this daily gathering, so the chat may take a turn to Griff’s coaching and playing rugby, and American football. Or maybe to Louis’ wedding preparations. Then a check on plans for the working day and we are off to the various tasks in hand.
10:00: Each week two of our team host our Monday Morning Investment Update call to c60 of Nedgroup’s Private Wealth team – our internal client-base. We provide thoughts and views on the highlights (and lowlights) of the week, but it is key that we tie it back to the medium-term story – being up-to-date is vital for us and our colleagues in the Wealth team, but the long term is where more reliable outcomes live for the clients.
11:00: A call with Jannie in Cape Town where Nedgroup is headquartered. We are sharing thoughts on blending active and passive. Jannie has a successful core product which has just won a Raging Bull award in South Africa. It provides some food for thought for how we can shape our products for the future for the internal and external clients my team serve in the UK and Europe.
12:00: Quick pizza lunch with an industry mate – something interesting always comes out of sharing time with peers from this great industry.
14:00: We meet ARC to review our performance for the past quarter, which picked up strongly the month I joined (!) giving back some in December. Fortuitously, I have inherited some good long-term numbers for us to build upon.
14:30: Sava grabs our attention ringing a small, china bell signifying positive flows today. I am fortunate to be part of a business growing in a broadly challenged asset management space.
Tuesday
09:00: At the hot desk gathering, recent positive conversations about Europe, added to Louis’ prep for our Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA) meeting due later today, lead us to favour adding to European equities. We all agree to think about this in the intervening hours and it sharpens the focus for my next meeting.
10:30: Sava, Madhushree and I meet with Oliver Kelton, manager of the European-focussed Ardtur fund range at SW Mitchell Capital (SWMC). Oliver’s high-conviction approach, backed by a strong absolute value discipline, has favoured the patient investor in his funds. At SWMC he was reunited with his former colleagues of the early 2000s. With a P/E of 9.5x versus the market on 14x, and Europe at an interesting juncture, he seems to be speaking at an even faster rate of knots than usual about the opportunity ahead.
Lunchtime: A 25%-off voucher from more exercise by my partner helps Itsu be the choice.
14:30: Our TAA meet confirms the European decision, fulfilled via our passive allocation for now until we conclude our active manager research.
Wednesday
08.00: I join an AI learning session as part of a group-wide initiative – can AI teach this old dog new tricks? Or perform them for me? Or replace me? Hoping not the latter.
Lunchtime: Working lunch (Itsu again) with management colleagues to further our plan to grow the multi-manager business within our internal clients and beyond. Our ideas are solidifying, but we agree to conduct market research to refine the plan.
16:00: I join a meeting with one of our outsourced boutiques, FPA partners, who are visiting from the US. Their performance is strong, and they have a busy week scheduled by Api and her sales team.
Thursday
Staff update to all in Nedgroup Investments from Tom Caddick, our CEO. We have known each other for many years and have slipped into working together really well. He has built a good team around him.
Lunch with some old colleagues adds levity and further insight to the day. I love that this industry remains such a people business. As the coffees arrive, we conclude that retirement has been right for those who have taken it, but for some there is lots to keep them interested and motivated.
16:00: We are building a dashboard for our IT exposures and Sava and I meet to move the project on. Many ITs offer great value as a result of duration sensitivity and selling pressure from merging wealth managers finding they own too much, creating a complex blend of attributes and issues that we need to be on top of.
Friday
It’s a WFH day so no commute, instead a run. My running is sporadic, but I’m always glad when I fit one in. Not only do I feel better, but I think through any of the unresolved aspects of work and life in general when plodding along.
09:00: Our morning team call plans who will do the update to Wealth on Monday and any portfolio tweaks.
09:30: Start to write some notes for the Asset Allocator Diary piece!
14:00: We have a follow up call with a potential new boutique for the group’s Dublin fund platform. We are there as observers, assisting the Cape Town-based team who oversee these third-party affiliates. Nedgroup is keen to grow the platform beyond the five funds and $9bn of AUM already there.
Friday evening: I drop my partner off for her girls’ get-together at a local restaurant and retreat to the sofa to catch up on some of the Six Nations matches I missed last weekend. Several nations still have it all to play for.
Saturday
Yay – manage another run, the fringe benefit of a quiet Friday night! Then it is espresso and the FT, although I admit I am drawn away from the pink paper to the colour supplements and, in particular, Tim Hayward’s restaurant reviews which are always an amusing read, if not an amuse-bouche…
After a late brunch together, we book a table at a new local wine bar to give it a try for Saturday evening. It is already very popular, and the well-priced, if eclectic wine list and fab charcuterie and cheeses explain why. It’s family run and the atmosphere is great too. We manage to secure some extra space on the next table, having persuaded some friends who will be passing by later from a nearby restaurant to come and take a look too. It ends up being a great night all round.
Sunday
The weather has suddenly perked up for the first time in a while, so Lola the labradoodle gets a good long walk today through the Surrey Hills. She is the most well-mannered and well-behaved dog, except for favouring a paddle through every remaining puddle left on the drying chalk hills.…. a hosing down will be required.
