The value of investments and any income derived from them can go down as well as up as a result of market or currency movements and investors may not get back the original amount invested.
Multi-asset portfolios don’t manage themselves. Behind the CT Universal MAP range, which has grown from £15m to over £5bn since launch, sits a team of specialists whose varied backgrounds shape every decision.
The five fund managers profiled here bring experience spanning hedge funds, equity analysis, economics, sustainability integration and quantitative strategies. Together, they run the 11 funds in the CT Universal MAP and CT Sustainable Universal MAP ranges.
Below, five members of the team explain their roles, their career paths and how they think about investing.
Paul Niven
“Multi-asset investing, in my mind, is about solving for required client outcomes and there is real satisfaction which comes with knowing that the team’s investment decisions, in designing and delivering investment performance, positively contribute to the financial wellbeing of those who trust their savings to us to manage,” Paul Niven, head of multi-asset solutions, EMEA at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, said.
Niven launched the Universal MAP range in 2017 with £15m of seed capital and has found it “tremendously satisfying” to deliver robust performance combined with strong asset growth (the range is now over £5bn). He also manages the FTSE 100-listed F&C Investment Trust, giving him regular exposure to retail shareholders and a sense of the history and financial impact which it has made over the past 150 years.
“Both instances give a real-world sense of the positive impact which our team’s collective decisions make for our clients,” he added.
Niven, who runs a team of more than 20 people managing over £50bn in client assets, brings nearly 30 years of fund management experience, with most of that time focused on multi-asset investing. He chairs the Asset Allocation Strategy Group, which determines the team's tactical asset allocation views, though he emphasises the collaborative nature of decision-making across the team.
His typical day involves debate and discussion with colleagues from within the multi-asset team and across the wider organisation, analysis of portfolio positioning and regular interaction with clients from fund boards through to individual retail investors. Outside work, he recently took up padel, where he's working on adapting his tennis player’s game into something more suited to the sport.
Keith Balmer
Portfolio manager Keith Balmer’s financial career started in sales in 2000, which he described as “not a traditional route” to fund management. He spent 13 years at Man Group in the hedge fund world, where his maths degree helped him specialise in quantitative and systematic strategies. After time at BlackRock working on the multi-asset income franchise, he joined Columbia Threadneedle’s multi-asset team nine years ago.
This diverse background, which spans quantitative and fundamental, market neutral and trend following, and income to long-only growth-oriented funds, proved useful while running the Universal portfolios. A typical day starts with catching up on overnight market movements and ensuring the funds are correctly positioned, followed by a range of meetings that can include internal team discussions, cross-floor conversations with single strategy experts, risk reviews and external sessions with clients or research analysts.
But his sales background is useful as he handles the majority of client interactions for the CT Universal MAP range: “The ability to distil relatively sophisticated processes and complex ideas into an easily understandable and explainable narrative has helped with the adoption of the range by a variety of financial professionals.”
For Balmer, the 2020 pandemic showcased the team’s versatile approach under extreme conditions. This brought decisions that needed to be made outside the normal meeting cadence, with no historical precedent to fall back upon. Working from home complicated matters, requiring the team to build new communication methods.
“The fact that the contribution to the portfolios from tactical asset allocation was best in 2020 speaks volumes for the versatility of the team, calmness under pressure and quality of investment capabilities in the face of adversity,” he said.
At weekends, Balmer takes Charlie, his three-year-old Italian water dog, for two to three-hour walks through the woods and fields of Kent. This allows him to catch up on finance podcasts from diverse sources he wouldn’t normally encounter through the usual panel of analysts.
Eloise Robinson
Eloise Robinson leads the CT Sustainable Universal MAP range whilst also assisting with the CT Universal range. Her days begin by checking the funds are in line with both sustainability criteria and asset allocation targets, followed by getting up to speed on overnight news and market moves. She also monitors performance of both the funds themselves and the underlying strategies the team uses.
“I think my collaborative nature compliments both the team approach employed to managing the Universal and Sustainable Universal MAP ranges and the multi-asset nature of the funds – we regularly liaise with colleagues across multiple different desks, from equities to fixed income to responsible investment and risk,” she explained.
“Having worked on the sustainable multi-asset funds for several years prior to my promotion to lead portfolio manager, I also bring knowledge of our company-wide approach to sustainability and how it pertains to our funds.”
A highlight of Robinson’s time on the team was securing Sustainability Focus UK SDR labels for all five funds in the CT Sustainable Universal MAP Range. This required coordinating multiple internal teams, maintaining ongoing dialogue with the FCA under tight deadlines and presenting the team’s sustainability integration approach to fund boards.
“I like to use my time outside of work to focus on other interests and hobbies – ones which have minimal connection to investments or markets,” Robinson added. This includes running, as well as reading and baking.
Rob Plant
Rob Plant focuses on the Universal MAP range as a portfolio manager, where he leads the Universal Income strategy. “Each day begins with a morning meeting where we review macroeconomic developments and share ideas that could influence portfolio positioning,” he explained.
“The rest of my day involves researching investment opportunities, participating in internal fund reviews and meetings on macro themes and valuations, building models, and actively managing portfolios.”
Plant’s background combining equity analysis with macro hedge fund experience shapes his approach to portfolio management. His previous roles allow him to merge detailed bottom-up equity analysis with broader macroeconomic perspectives, helping him navigate complex market environments and identify opportunities across asset classes.
This dual perspective proved valuable in several market events. For example, during the pandemic, he adapted quickly by using alternative data sources to assess the impact of lockdowns. He also identified underpriced risks around major political events such as Brexit and the 2016 US election, implementing hedges to protect portfolios.
Plant grew up playing chess, which shaped his strategic thinking. He now teaches the game to his two daughters, aged nine and six, with weekends usually spent doing activities with them. He also enjoys cooking and hosting dinner parties, while staying active through running and triathlons.
Anthony Willis
Anthony Willis is the senior economist in the CT Universal MAP team, having moved onto the team in April 2025. He has focused on asset allocation since 2007, enjoying the interaction between economics, politics and financial markets and especially considering “what's changed” when events occur.
An example of how this can add value to the funds is how the team reacted to the market turmoil that followed US president Donald Trump’s unveiling of new tariffs on ‘Liberation Day’ in April 2025. “We did a lot of work and research ahead of the US tariff announcements on the likely impact on economies, earnings, supply chains and inflation and concluded that the impact would be less significant than implied by the dramatic market selloff,” he explained.
“We continued to re-run our models as the tariff rates shifted and grew more confident the market selloff was not justified and headline tariffs would ease over time. While in the portfolios from the outside it may have looked like we had chosen to ‘do nothing’, from the inside a huge amount of work went into making that decision.”
Willis produces a daily morning macro update shared across the company, usually arriving at his desk by 06:30 so the key points can lead the team’s daily morning call. Although there is no such thing as a typical day, his time is spent in investment meetings, working on research, presenting to clients or colleagues, and building bespoke reports on specific subjects.
He has worked in financial services since 1997, having studied Economics and Politics at Exeter University. His time in the City – actually a combination of stints in the West End, Canary Wharf and the Square Mile – has spanned a number of market and economic cycles and crises.
“The experience of these events and how investors, central banks and markets react to them has proven very valuable – history may not repeat itself but it often rhymes – and is a useful reminder to keep a ‘cool head’,” he said.
Outside of work, Willis uses his cycling commute through London helps clear his mind from the intense news and market cycle, while maintaining a house he calls “the money pit” focuses his attention elsewhere.
More information on the CT Universal MAP ranges can be found here.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. FOR PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS ONLY. Your capital is at risk.
Columbia Threadneedle (UK) ICVC III is an open-ended investment company structured as an umbrella company, incorporated in England and Wales, authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a UK UCITS scheme.
The current Prospectus, the Key Investor Information Document (KIID), latest annual or interim reports and the applicable terms & conditions are available from Columbia Threadneedle Investments at Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AG, your financial advisor and/or on our website www.columbiathreadneedle.com. Please read the Prospectus before taking any investment decision.
This material should not be considered as an offer, solicitation, advice or an investment recommendation. This communication is valid at the date of publication and may be subject to change without notice. Information from external sources is considered reliable but there is no guarantee as to its accuracy or completeness.
In the UK: Issued by Columbia Threadneedle Management Limited, No. 517895, registered in England and Wales and authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments (Columbia Threadneedle) is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
© 2026 Columbia Threadneedle. All rights reserved.