It is quite common for people to fall into a job and for that to determine the trajectory of their career path. Chris Bowie didn’t quite do it like that, as he always wanted to be an equity trader.
But having joined Murray Johnstone as a freshfaced youth, he and found it impossible to break into trading.
However, me eventually managed to make himself indispensable through building a well-received IT system. He finally got a break – in fixed income – and saw it as a stop gap.
However, having forced his way into trading, he seems to have fallen into bonds more permanently unless 20 years can be considered a passing phase.
Having done the hard yards, he quickly showed his ability in fixed income and progressed through different firms until a successful decade at Ignis Asset Management came to an end with its sale last year.
Looking for a new direction, he joined TwentyFour and this year has launched two new funds – an absolute return fund at the end of August – and a corporate bond fund in midJanuary.
With young funds, the next year is focused on performance, but also growing the business as well. He is looking to hire some New Yorkbased US specialists to assist with high yield asset selection.
Bowie feels TwentyFour has been very much involved in the debate on liquidity, about which the company remains very conservative and does not anticipate improvement any time soon.
Liquidity is why TwentyFour closed its flagship fund to new investors because the bigger the fund gets, the harder it is to select assets and manage the portfolio risks effectively.
Having been names as number 14 among the top 1000 fund managers in a 2013 survey across all asset classes, Bowie has a high watermark for industry acknowledgements, having been tripleA rated in the past – a status he hopes to recapture once his funds have longer track records.
Despite all the challenges of regulatory upheaval, of a new job, he’s clearly having a whale of a time in his new role.
“It’s great to be part of a place that’s started to get recognition and grow vibrantly,” he says.
“We need to ensure performance stays strong and that we don’t lose our culture as we become bigger.”