When Stephanie Butcher became chief investment officer for EMEA at Invesco at the start of 2020, she was stepping into the role when the world was just becoming aware of the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic, and when Invesco was itself dealing with what she politely calls “legacy” issues around high-profile fund managers and some underperforming products.
The company was still operating in the shadow of the departure of Neil Woodford, and his replacement with Mark Barnett.
Now, in 2023, she has become global co-head of investments, a role that involves her jointly overseeing not just the investment team but also the trading desks and other front office functions for the entire $1.5tn (£958bn) operation.
She says: "I think that while there have been some high-profile investors at Invesco, we now regard the concept of the star fund manager as a bit legacy.
"My view is that a strong fund or franchise of funds is one that is run by a team. And it is part of the remuneration conversation we have with our fund managers, about the extent to which they are collaborating and being team players.
"Frankly, it is in the clients interests that we have a team-based approach, [and] that there is stability and continuity."
Butcher says she learnt these lessons during her own time as a European equity fund manager during the sovereign debt crisis of 2011, “when that’s happening, you need to know your fixed income team very well.
"We were, as equity investors, meeting European bank chief executives very keen to have our bond guys in that meeting. And that’s part of the culture we are trying to create here now. If a person on one part of the investment floor sees a bit of research they find interesting, I want it shared across all the teams, fixed income, equities etc, and debated.
"There needs to be an end to the silos. And it’s the same with geographies. We want the US and UK and Asia operations to be one team.”
Shaking things up
This inclusive language belies the steel behind Butcher’s approach: a number of established investors, including Barnett, have left the company, and funds have been merged.
She says her priority when creating the investment teams is “to act in the way the client wants. If a fund is in line with what a client wants, it gets inflows, if not, then it doesn’t. So that is always at the centre of how we think about it. And I think clients now are much more sophisticated than in the past.
"There has been a blurring of the line between a retail and an institutional client because the retail client is more informed. And that fits into how we are trying to position Invesco; its not about a fixed income team or whatever in Henley, its about creating a community of investors.
"It is also, I think, important for our clients to know that it is not just a bunch of people siloed in Henley."
