Ex-New Star hedgie reveals figures from comeback firm
ALAN Miller, the former hedge fund high-flyer who quit New Star Asset Management following a messy divorce, has revealed market-beating figures from his comeback venture.
Just over a year after launching Spencer-Churchill Miller (SCM) Private, a boutique wealth manager, Miller said his two portfolios had dodged most of the downside suffered by UK equities. SCM Absolute Return fell 0.1 per cent for the year to yesterday and SCM Long-Term was down 1.9 per cent, against a 7.4 per cent drop in the FTSE 100.
Miller surprised the City when he joined forces with socialite Alexander Spencer-Churchill to set up the firm in March 2009. Although he built his reputation as a successful stock-picker at Gartmore Investment, Jupiter Asset Management and New Star, SCM’s portfolios are made up from passive exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Miller and his co-manager Simeon Downes entirely shun company analysis in favour of macro-economic calls.
Miller told City A.M. yesterday: “We always try and be contrarian. Recently we have been reducing our dollar exposure and increasing sterling. We’re increasing our equity exposure as values look attractive.”
The one-year numbers cement Miller’s return to running money. He hit the headlines in 2005 when his then-wife, Melissa, won a £5m settlement in a bitter public divorce. Miller pursued an appeal to the House of Lords but lost. He left New Star in early 2007 to take a break from work.
SCM, which Miller runs with his new wife, Gina, has just under £100m on its books. It plans to grow to up to £500m in the next few years.