Francis quits Credit Suisse to join UK equities team at Schroders

Errol Francis has left his role as manager of the £1.6bn Credit Suisse income fund range, responsibility for which now falls to small and mid-cap growth specialist Crispin Finn.

Francis, who inherited the trio of funds from Leigh Harrison a year ago, is leav-ing to join Schroders where he is expected to team up with UK equity head Rich-ard Buxton.

Bill Mott is to resume his advisory role on the £1.1bn Income, £377m Monthly Income and £127m Alpha Income portfolios just days after announcing his retirement.

Despite Mott asserting his full confidence in the eight-strong equity team at the time, his return is no surprise considering recent performance on the funds has been steady at best.

Over three years, all three vehicles are borderline second and third-quartile, while in the past 12 months under Francis's tenure all three have produced returns below the sector average, according to Standard and Poor's.

Mark Ingram, head of sales at Credit Suisse, said the group is in the process of recruiting a new income manager and is hopeful of making an announcement in the near future.

In the interim, the management of the three funds has passed to the UK equity team headed by Finn and Philip True, with Finn having final say on investment decisions.

Francis's move is the latest in a string of departures from Credit Suisse this year, with managing director Ian Chimes, UK retail sales director Mark Thomas and sales support staff Keith Jarvis and Gavin White all leaving.

BestInvest has not been a fan of the income funds for a while, says Justin Modray, investment adviser at the IFA, who added: "One of the big problems is that Mott is the driving force and, whenever someone leaves the group, Credit Suisse tends to rely on him as its caretaker."

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