Generally the 'running' of a LIC (from a company perspective), it not handled by the investment team. From the portfolio managers point of view, a pool of capital from a LIC is no different to any other mandate from an institutional client, assuming that the investment strategy is the same. Yes, there is some additional work in client roadshows/contact, however fund managers are generally doing that anyway.
It's really more about looking at the attribution underpinning strong performance and making a call on whether that is sustainable. Typically of course, very strong returns are cyclical. No one shoots the lights out all the time.
Bennelong L/S Equity had a soft patch in 2014, delivering nearly 12% absolute underperformance vs the ASX300. At the time, Fish basically admitted he was being more hands off. I was in for the 2016 walloping as well and gritted my teeth and stuck with it. Ultimately rewarded, but I have reduced my position of his retirement until I can better gauge Shepard's abilities.
For L1, Lamm and Landau are highly engaged. That is not to say that their outsized returns may not hit a rough patch just around the corner. That's the risk you take with all fund managers. But it's generally on the running of another vehicle that's the distraction, providing they have plenty of resources to do what's required in the background.
