Newton Investment Management is to lose Clive Beagles, manager of its £1.5bn (€2.2bn) higher income fund, to JO Hambro Capital Management, the UK fund manager.

Beagles joined the investment operation of Mellon Financial eight years ago and became lead manager of the its higher income fund in 2001. The fund is ranked in the top 10% of UK income funds for performance, according to Lipper, the fund research firm. Beagles joined Newton from Commercial Union, now called Aviva, where he was a UK equity fund manager.