Polar Capital houses a number of competitive products in niche areas. We think the strengths of these strategies, combined with a performance-focused culture, warrant a Parent rating of Above Average. While CEO Gavin Rochussen stepped down after the annual general meeting in 2025, his successor Iain Evans has been with the business for two decades and is expected to follow the same strategy as Rochussen. The business was founded in 2001 by the managers of the highly successful technology fund, which continues to dominate the firm’s assets under management. Since 2017, the focus has been “growth with diversity”—adding complementary strategies and managers—and it has been executed well, with several compelling offerings added in emerging markets/Asia, thematic equities, and global small cap in recent years. Within Polar, each team enjoys a high degree of autonomy while benefiting from centralized distribution, compliance, risk management, and legal services. A generous profit-sharing arrangement that links management and performance fees allows an entrepreneurial manager to allocate resources effectively and helps with talent retention. While fees are higher than some peers, and the addition of performance fees is controversial, we find Polar’s fee structures are transparent and allow for strong capacity management; along with talent retention, this has been a strength of the firm. Although considerable pressures remain on active management in general, and the technology strategy continues to have cyclical outflows as investors rebalance away from US growth stocks, the group reported positive net flows for the year to March 2026.
Note: This share class' Parent Pillar rating is analyst-driven, as its Branding Name, Polar Capital (Branding Name ID: BN000009QO), is covered by Morningstar Manager Research.
United States