Newton's Stewart: This is the most challenging period of my career

Newton Investment Management's veteran fund manager Iain Stewart said the past year has been the most difficult period he has experienced in almost three decades in the industry.

Stewart (pictured), who has been at Newton since 1995 and has managed the £9bn Real Return fund since inception in 2004, said he has found it difficult to navigate his way around policymakers' "increasingly unpredictable" decision-making in recent years. "It has been difficult and disappointing in the last few years that we have not kept up with the sharp performance of the markets. It is probably the most challenging period I have ever experienced," he said. Over the year to 2 May, the fund has returned just 0.8%, meaning it has failed to keep pace with other comparable absolute retu...