An era has come to an end at Hermes Fund Managers with the decision to sell its activist asset management arm, founded by the late Alastair Ross Goobey in 1998, to a boutique manager.

The sale of the so-called Focus Funds will entail the transfer of three teams, covering Europe, the UK and Japan, to RWC Partners. The exact terms under which the teams, which jointly manage $800m, will transfer have not been disclosed.