Skandia hands mandate to Ryan

Skandia has replaced Lazard as the manager of one of the largest mandates it has ever given out, handing the assets to Aegon's Audrey Ryan.

The £130m UK equity mandate covers a range of funds including the £850m Global Dynamic Equity and the Spectrum range of risk targeted funds. The mandate was formerly managed by Alan Custis, who runs the £288m Lazard UK Alpha fund and the £7m UK Omega fund. Ryan Hughes, a senior portfolio manager at Skandia, says the manager change is not the result of underperformance by the Lazard manager. “We want a more pragmatic manager who can be flexible in a more uncertain market. Audrey Ryan has been in our Ethical fund for five years, and also in Best Ideas, so we have seen her approach. ...