Graham Clapp’s Pensato Capital to join with RWC Partners

RWC Partners has announced today that they are acquiring Pensato Capital, the investment manager majority-owned by European fund manager Graham Clapp.  Clapp established Pensato in 2008 having spent 22 years at Fidelity where he was manager of the €25bn European Growth Fund.  Edward Rumble and Russell Champion, who worked with Graham at Fidelity, are senior members of the seven-person investment team which will join RWC. Pensato manages approximately $280m in both long/short and long-only European equity funds.
RWC manages approximately $11.2bn across a small number of investment strategies and has seen significant growth over the last four years.  Two years ago, RWC launched an Emerging and Frontier Markets Equity team managed by John Malloy and James Johnstone, which now manages c. $3bn on behalf of its clients.
Graham Clapp commented:
“When I was introduced to Dan six months ago I was intrigued by the RWC business model.  It is critical to me and my team that we spend our time analysing companies and I really like the focus RWC has on creating the right environment for its investment teams.  We have built on the process I developed during my time at Fidelity and by joining with RWC we have the opportunity to work within a broader organisation that offers the resources and diversification that will help us to develop our strategies and focus purely on generating performance for our investors.”
“It’s very exciting to join RWC at a time when Europe is back on people’s radar.  We have a hugely intensive company meeting program and believe there is a plethora of opportunity in European equities.  I’ve been investing in the UK and Europe for over 25 years and it remains a really attractive place to be an active fund manager.”
Dan Mannix commented:
“Graham has established himself over the last 25 years as one of the great stock pickers in Europe.  He and his team have established a world-class European equity capability which builds on his distinguished career at Fidelity.  As we’ve got to know Graham it’s apparent he is an exceptional investor with an undimmed passion for analysing and investing in stocks.
“We believe that there remains a real demand for exceptional investment teams who are providing something different for investors and we see the competitive environment improving as barriers to entry rise and larger organisation increasingly put the squeeze on their investment teams.”