Jayesh Manek (born 1956 in Uganda)[1] is a British fund manager. He was the winner of the Sunday Times Fantasy Fund Manager competition in 1994 and 1995, beating thousands of other entrants and winning £100,000 on each occasion.[2][3] This attracted the attention of John Templeton, who gave Manek £5 million to invest in July 1995 and a further £5 million in June 1996.
Funds
editIn 1995 Manek helped found India Value Investments, a Mauritius-based investment firm investing in Indian equities. In December 1997, Manek became the first British Indian fund manager, establishing the Manek Growth Fund, a unit trust open to public investment.[4]
By 2000, having attracted over £100 million in investment to the Growth Fund, the fund was up by 160%, and worth nearly £300 million.[5][6] The dot-com crash saw values crashing, and since that time Manek Growth has been a poor performer. In the 1, 3, and 10 years to 2 January 2012, Manek Growth was the worst performing fund in its sector.[7] Heavy holdings in individual, high-risk shares has seen fund values fluctuate wildly, but the long-term trend is only down, and Manek Growth is as of 18 April 2012 worth less than its launch price. Analysis of Manek's long-term failure has noted that he made multiple entries into the Sunday Times competition[3] and that his high-risk approach might result in big short-term gains, ideal in a competition where the only prize is for coming first (most growth), but when real money is at stake, risky.
In December 2017, with the Manek Growth Fund having fallen by 55% over the past ten years (as opposed to an average rise of 269% for his peers), Manek closed the fund entirely, with investors being redeemed.[8][9]
Biography
editManek left Uganda following the purge of Asians by Idi Amin, in 1971,[3] and has a degree in Pharmacy from Brighton Polytechnic. He founded his own chain of pharmacies, Dallas Chemists, prior to becoming a fund manager. Dallas Chemists was purchased by Alliance Unichem in 1999.[10][11]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Jayesh Manek: Fund Manager Fact Sheet". Citywire. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ Paton, Maynard (12 April 2002). "Are Fantasy Portfolios Worth The Trouble?". The Motley Fool. Archived from the original on 28 October 2005. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ a b c Davis, Jonathan (27 December 1997). "Personal finance: pounds 50m says this is the manager to watch". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ "Indian joins London's exclusive club of fund managers". Press Trust of India. 14 November 1997. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ Collinson, Patrick (28 December 2001). "The chemist who dreamed of alchemy". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ Collinson, Patrick (31 December 2005). "Alchemist who turned gold to dross - and back again?". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ Patel, Meera (2 February 2012). "Manek Growth Fund - research alert". Hargreaves Lansdown. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ Reality bites for fantasy fund manager as Manek shuts down - Citywire, 17 Nov 2017
- ^ Britain’s Worst Fund Manager Says Goodbye - iexpats, 22 Nov 2017
- ^ "Responsive Campaign Raises £50m". warc. 1 November 1997. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ "INVIL Directors". INVIL. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
External links
edit- India Value Investments Limited – Mauritius-based fund investing in Indian shares, of which Manek is a Director