RWC Partners has confirmed that Schroders' fund managers Nick Purves and Ian Lance will join the company in August this year. Purves and Lance were formerly managers of the Schroder UK Equity Income Fund and a number of institutional mandates.

Purves and Lance will manage both Value and Income funds at RWC Partners.

Purves has been a long-standing fund manager at Schroders having been at the company for 16 years. Lance joined Schroders in 2007 to work alongside Purves. Lance had previously worked as Head of Global Equity Research at Gartmore and as Head of European Equities at Citigroup.

RWC Partners already manages assets in long-only equity and convertible bond mandates; Purves and Lance will be responsible for funds similar to those they have previously been responsible for at Schroders.

Commenting on the announcement, Peter Harrison, Chief Executive Officer, RWC Partners, said: “We are delighted Nick and Ian have decided to join RWC Partners. Value investing is the equity investment style that has stood the test of time. Nick and Ian have consistently demonstrated their willingness to apply their process in an extremely disciplined fashion. The UK Equity Income sector is one of the most competitive around and managing the fund that is best in the sector since Nick started managing it over 3 and 5 years is a real endorsement of their investment capabilities.

“Equity Income is a hugely popular sector in the UK market. Not only does it provide a much needed source of regular dividends but Nick and Ian’s value approach to investing is one that has consistently provided good returns over the long-term.

“We have a comprehensive UCITS III fund structure at RWC which is used extensively by investors in both the UK and across Europe. We have seen significant growth in our UCITS III funds over the past 3 years and are delighted we can build on this with Nick and Ian’s funds."