Waverton Asia managers forced to abandon growth strategy in face of crisis

The eurozone debt crisis has forced the managers of the Waverton Asia Pacific fund to abandon their growth strategy in favour of defensive stocks after a dire period for performance.

J O Hambro Investment Management (JOHIM) managers Edward Stileman and Alan Gibbs sold out of many of their growth plays in mid August in favour of more defensive stocks. They expect to remain in these positions until a "market-clearing event" happens in Europe. Stileman said: "We need a whale to clear the markets - we have had the dolphin with MF Global [the brokerage firm that filed for bankruptcy this month] but we need a whale like Lehman Brothers to see the bottom of the market." The manager, who works alongside Alan Gibbs, admitted a slight mistake had been made on the fund but t...