HEAD-TO-HEAD: Allianz Global Investors vs Kempen International Funds

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The portfolio managers of both funds are also analysts. They divide their coverage by geography, with each responsible for finding portfolio candidates in their assigned countries.

Additionally, the management teams of both funds have seen substantial turnover in the past few years, Van Genderen said.

Frank Hansen has been the lead manager of the Allianz fund since the inception in 2009. He was joined in 2016 by Heinrich Ey, who became co-head of the team. The seven-person team, based in Frankfurt, Germany, has recently seen the departure of two portfolio managers, but the firm is hiring replacements to maintain the head count, according to Van Genderen.

Allianz has recently consolidated its European small cap expertise under one roof, by bringing to Frankfurt its three managers responsible for the firm’s insurance portfolio mandate. This should increase collaboration between the two teams, resulting in better coverage of the small cap space, he added.

Turning to the Kempen fund, in 2016, Kempen reorganised the management team, leading to the departure of the team’s head Rory Hammerson and another long-term team member Ewan Millar.

The fund is now managed by Mark McCullough, who has been on the team from the fund’s inception, and Tommy Bryson, who joined in 2014. The team, which consists of five members, is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is responsible also for the Kempen Sustainable European Small-Cap Fund.

“[The reorganisation] was a bit of a surprise for us,” said Van Genderen. And while, in principle, the new team should work better, “we will need some time to build conviction,” he added.

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