Blackrock fund manager Richard Plackett has announced he will take a six month sabbatical starting on April 1. Plackett manages the UK Special Situations fund and runs part of the Throgmorton Trust (THRG).
The Blackrock UK Special Situations fund is currently Morningstar analyst Gold Rated thanks to the long and successful tenure of Plackett. Plackett has been at Blackrock for 11 years and running the £2 billion Special Situations fund for nearly a decade. He co-manages the fund with Roland Arnold, who joined the team two years ago and is expected to run the fund in his absence. Plackett is managing director of the Blackrock UK Small and Mid Cap team which has doubled in size over the last decade, creating sufficient support for the asset manager to grant Plackett’s sabbatical request.
A spokesman for Blackrock said that Plackett had requested the sabbatical after 25 years in fund management.
“BlackRock fully supports this request from a long serving member of the portfolio management team. Roland Arnold, co-manager of the BlackRock UK Special Situations fund since 2012, will continue to manage the fund during Richard’s sabbatical. We look forward to welcoming Richard back in October,” they said.
Morningstar analysts praised the stability of Plackett’s team and the depth of resource at BlackRock when determining the fund’s Gold Rating in October 2012.
The Throgmorton Trust is Morningstar analyst Silver Rated and invests in small and medium sized UK companies. Plackett co-manages the trust with Mike Prentis. Prentis will continue to manage the long-only part of the portfolio and will be assisted during the sabbatical by Ralph Cox who will run the short part of the trust.