John Husselbee: Hunting for leopards

If ever you are asked to source a quote - be it in a pub quiz or professionally - answering "Shakespeare" or "The Bible" will be right a decent amount of the time. Indeed, the quote at the heart of this column - "A leopard never changes its spots" - can be found in the latter, attributed to the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah on failing to persuade an evil shepherdess to change her ways. Our subject here, however, is fund managers, not evil shepherdesses, and - in this particular field - obstinacy can be a major virtue. When analysing and selecting fund managers, consistency of performance over ...