Just how good is the new man holding the reins at RIT?

After 14 years, Micky Breuer-Weil has decided to stand down from RIT Capital Partners, the popular £1.8 billion global growth investment trust.

Taking his place will be GAM's Ron Tabbouche, the firm's former head of investment and manager of the long-only GAM Composite Global Equity USD Open, Star Composite Global Equity USD, GAM Composite and Star Composite Absolute Return funds, alongside Graham Wainer. 

But his installation at RIT comes at a point when the investment company looks headed in a new direction, with the announcement of a host of strategic partnerships including working with Prince Charles, supermarket Sainsbury's and Rockerfeller.

In light of this, just how well placed is Tabbouche to be taking over the reins?

During his time at RIT, Breuer-Weil has enjoyed a fairly successful tenure, with his career taking him from an appointment to the board in 1998 to his current role as a Rothschild investment director.

Although RIT's long-term performance is better than its near-term, Breuer-Weil can be credited with delivering 220% total return to investors over 10 years, versus the FTSE World index's 103%, and more recently with the skilled navigation of dicey markets that saw the trust fall by less than half the decline of the MSCI World index over the 12 months to the end of March.

Comparing these numbers to Tabbouche's, it is clear that new investment director coming on board at RIT has some pretty large shoes to fill; it is hardly enlightening to point out that GAM is known as a respected absolute return house, so Tabbouche's background in this regard should please RIT shareholders invested for its capital preservation properties.

But according to a Wealth Manager analysis, his 10-year GAM Composite Global Equity returns come in at 44%, around a quarter of RIT's, though it has to be noted that RIT's performance will be skewed by premium/discount fluctuations.

In Tabbouche's favour is the fact that RIT is unlikely to stay cautious forever, and comparing his and Breuer-Weil's skill at running global equities, GAM's former investment head comes out best. This year, Tabbouche's GAM global equity returns are 5.71%, versus RIT's 0.25%.

Shareholder demand

Unlike their open-ended rivals, it can quickly become apparent when investors like what they see at a trust, thanks to the fact they trade as shares and as such, can sit at a discount or premium depending on a combination of factors including performance and shareholder demand.