AXA IM's St John promises investors continuity as he prepares to take over from Thomas

Takes over at the end of the year

Chris St John, portfolio manager at AXA Investment Managers, is relishing the challenge of taking over the £2bn Framlington UK Select Opportunities fund, despite UK equities being out of favour with investors.

St John (pictured) takes over the fund at the end of the year from Nigel Thomas, who is retiring in March 2019 after 40 years in asset management, with John King, who joined in 2016 from Jefferies, becoming deputy manager. The incoming lead manager was keen to stress the focus on continuity on the fund, which has suffered around £1bn in outflows since Thomas's retirement was announced in April. As part of this push, he will hold meetings with Thomas on a quarterly basis to "bounce off ideas". At the same time, the former lead manager will continue to hold 70% of his own SIPP in the fu...