Fund manager Anthony Bolton to retire next year

ONE of the City’s best-known fund managers is to bow out after three decades in the industry when he retires next year.

Anthony Bolton has managed Fidelity’s China Special Situations fund for the past three years and has been with the firm since the launch of its first UK funds 30 years ago.

He will be succeeded by Dale Nicholls, who has 17 years’ experience of Asian markets.

Bolton said: “We will work closely together until I hand over the portfolio to him on 1 April 2014 but I will still make the final decision on all investments until then.

“Although I will be sorry to end my involvement with the company that was set up at my instigation, I know it will be in good hands and I will be retaining my personal investment in the company’s shares.”

Mark Dampier, head of investment research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Bolton had enjoyed a “fantastic” career at Fidelity and was regarded as one of the best active fund managers in recent decades.

He added: “His China fund’s performance in recent years has tarnished this record slightly, though it has shown signs of recovery in the past year.”

According to figures published yesterday, the net asset value of the China Special Situations fund fell by 15.7 per cent in the year to 31 March. Yet it outperformed MSCI’s China Benchmark Index by 3.5 per cent.

Bolton said he remained “very optimistic” in terms of the outlook for Chinese shares and he favoured companies that did business in Hong Kong, where he expects a number of firms to be bought out by rivals from mainland China.

He added: “In general, I expect 2013 to be a good year for equities globally and so far the US and, more recently, Japan have been the leading stock markets.”