When you invest in an actively managed fund, you're effectively hiring a person to make stock decisions on your behalf. The fund's historical returns belong to whoever was managing it at the time — not to the fund name itself.
The switch problem
If a star manager built a 10-year track record at Fund X and then moves to Fund Y, the historical returns of Fund X no longer reflect what you'll get going forward. Many investors buy Fund X on the strength of those returns, not realizing the person behind them has left.
What tenure tells you
A manager with 5+ years at a single fund has weathered at least one full market cycle and demonstrated a consistent philosophy. Short tenures (under 2 years) are a yellow flag — you don't yet know how the new person thinks under stress.
How to check
Every fund factsheet lists the current manager and their start date. Cross-reference this with the fund's historical returns — if the manager joined recently, the old track record is mostly irrelevant.
Team-managed funds
Some fund houses deliberately run funds as team efforts to reduce key-person risk. These funds tend to have more consistent (if less exciting) returns because one individual leaving doesn't derail the strategy. If you value continuity, team-managed funds are worth considering.