Hamish Douglass

A new CEO will go part of the way to convincing investors that Magellan can be turned around. But proving to those investors that they need Magellan, not an index, will be harder.

Magellan has abandoned its long-standing Chinese positions and cast a keen eye over financials as it attempts to weather an environment of more persistent inflation. Magellan has remained in the headlines on a near daily basis, with continued uncertainty around the return of CIO and founder Hamish Douglass, who took medical leave in early February….

Magellan has gone to its investors with a profit beat, a potential share buyback, and a promise that it will no longer be distracted by dalliances outside its core funds management business. Magellan came out swinging at its first results briefing since the surprise departure of Hamish Douglass, announcing an increased dividend, a potential share…

Magellan’s funds are unlikely to survive the departure unscathed, but commentators seem to believe the business will be better for the long-term. There seemed to be little sign that Hamish Douglass was in distress last week. He happily talked his book at a Morningstar conference as a horde of retail investors grew increasingly frustrated on…

An ugly situation in markets could be just the thing Hamish Douglass needs to reverse the fortunes of Magellan. But there’s no telling what will happen when it arrives. Hamish Douglass is hoping for rain – or really, the whole storm. He can’t guarantee that Magellan’s flagship global equities fund will do better in one,…

After a hellish close to 2021 that saw the departure of one of Magellan’s largest institutional clients, the pressure will be on for Hamish Douglass to do what he says he won’t: prioritise the short-term. The closing months of 2021 were likely the harshest of Hamish Douglass’s public career. Criticisms of Magellan’s underperformance since the…

The emergence of omicron has seen plenty of blood in the streets, and the quiet vindication of one of Australia’s most divisive investors. But doomsday has been postponed again. Like him or hate him, Hamish Douglass was (probably) right. Lambasted for the subpar performance of Magellan’s flagship global equity strategy during an incredible bull run…

Magellan will continue to spend big on ventures like upstart investment bank Barrenjoey and fintech Finclear as it diversifies away from its cornerstone global equities business. With investors continuing to question the lacklustre performance of Magellan’s global equities strategy, which has been the focus of (occasionally unfair) media attention for going on a year now,…