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Smith & Williamson - Our Investment Team

The independent, boutique structure of Smith & Williamson enables us to attract and retain highly talented people. We are keen to nurture the ideas, knowledge and expertise of our fund managers and believe that the flexibility to pursue high conviction investment ideas enables them to provide strong performance with integrity.

The freedom our talented fund managers are afforded has resulted in us having a stable investment team. Tana Focke, Jane Andrews, James Burns, Chris Lynas and Beverley Purkiss have each all been at Smith & Williamson for over 14 years.

Amanda Xu

Amanda joined Smith & Williamson in August 2010 to assist Jane Andrews on the Smith & Williamson Oriental Growth Fund and Smith & Williamson Far Eastern Growth Trust. Amanda is a Chinese national, hailing from Shandong, and has been involved in the Asian stock markets since 2007. She has a degree in Economics from Shangdong University, and an MSc in Finance and Investment from Queen Mary, University of London in addition to a MPhil in Land Economy Research from Cambridge University.

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Ani Markova

Ani co-manages the Smith & Williamson Global Gold and Resources Fund and is also co-manager for the AGF Precious Metals Fund. She has worked for AGF (a minority shareholder of Smith & Williamson Holdings Limited) since 2003 and has been working with Robert on the portfolio since 2008. Before joining AGF, Ani was a research associate and previous to that an associate analyst, both positions were based in Canada. Ani has a BA in Management and Marketing from Mount Vernon College in Washington D.C, an MBA in International Business and Finance also from the USA and she is a Licensed International Financial Analyst as well as a CFA charterholder and Member of the Toronto CFA Society.

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Beverley Purkiss

Beverley joined Smith and Williamson in 1996, having worked at Hill Samuel for 15 years where she was responsible for speaking to a variety of corporate clients on sterling deposits and treasury products. Beverley is head of the Treasury Desk at Smith & Williamson and her team cover fixed deposits both on and off balance sheet, and a Cash Management Facility for clients as well as looking after the foreign exchange desk. Beverley is also fund manager on the Smith & Williamson Cash Fund.

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Chris Lynas

Chris began his career in investment at Hoare Govett in 1986 before joining Smith & Williamson in 1990. He heads up the Fixed Interest team which runs specialist fixed interest mandates for pension funds and trusts as well as retail funds. Chris was appointed as the principal fund manager for the Smith & Williamson Fixed Interest Trust in 1998 having been involved since its inception in 1995. Chris is also fund manager for the newly launched Smith & Williamson Global Government Bond Fund and alongside fund manager Ian Kenny has responsibility for the Smith & Williamson Short-Dated Corporate Bond Fund and the Medium-Dated Corporate Bond Fund. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.

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David Cobb

David joined Smith & Williamson in 1985 after reading Electrical Engineering at King’s College London and has worked in the investment department ever since. In 2007 he became head of the investment management & banking department at Smith & Williamson and a member of the board of Smith & Williamson Holdings Limited.

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Genevra Banszky von Ambroz

Genevra joined the Smith & Williamson Investment Management Graduate Scheme in September 2008, and became a permanent member of the firm’s MultiManager desk in January 2010. Genevra graduated from Durham University in 2007 with a BA (Hons) degree in Politics. She is a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

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Ian Kenny

Ian joined Smith & Williamson in 1997 as an institutional fund accountant. He qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 2001 and thereafter assumed fund management responsibilities for a variety of institutional funds. Ian is lead manager for the newly launched Medium-Dated Corporate Bond Fund and lead manager of the Short-Dated Corporate Bond Fund, in addition, Ian has assisted Chris Lynas with the management of the Smith & Williamson Fixed Interest Trust since 2006. Ian graduated from the University of Reading with a BSc in Human Geography and an MSc in International Business & Economic Development. Ian qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 2001, and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment and is a CFA Charterholder.

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James Burns

James joined Smith & Williamson in September 1999 and started working on the investment trust desk in January 2001. He is now Head of the MultiManager team, managing the Smith & Williamson MM Global Investment Fund, the Smith & Williamson MM Cautious Growth Fund (both funds of investment trusts), and is co-manager of the Smith & Williamson MM Endurance Balanced Fund (a fund of open-ended funds). James sits on the Asset Allocation Policy Committee and he also co-ordinates the investment trust recommended list for the Private Client department. James graduated from the University of St. Andrews in 1998 with an MA (Hons) and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

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Jane Andrews

Jane joined Smith & Williamson in 1996 and has managed the Smith & Williamson Far Eastern Growth Trust for over 17 years. She also manages the Smith & Williamson Oriental Growth Fund. Jane’s career began with Midland Bank working on Asian investments for an international pension fund. In 1987 she moved to John Govett to manage the Pacific Income Fund, winning a performance award in 1988. A tenure at CIM fund managers, where she ran dedicated Japanese & Asian pension funds, preceded her career at Smith & Williamson. Jane is also involved in the monthly strategy meetings advising on Far Eastern Markets.

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Jonathan Davis

Jonathan Davis has been a Senior Adviser on strategy at Smith & Williamson Investment Management since March 2012. A graduate of Cambridge University and MIT’s Sloan School of Management, he has been analysing investment markets for more than 30 years, initially as a journalist on The Times, The Economist and The Independent and more recently as a FT columnist, author and investment company director.

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Mark Pignatelli

Mark joined Smith & Williamson in 2008 to manage the Smith & Williamson European Growth Trust. Having begun his investment career at Baring Asset Management in 1987, Mark became Head of the European Investment Team in 1995. In 2000, Mark moved to Schroder Investment Management as Head of Europe and subsequently Chief Investment Officer. In 2004, Mark left Schroders to establish Remus Capital LLP. Mark has a degree in Economics and Economic History from the LSE.

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Mark Swain

Mark joined Smith & Williamson at the end of 2005. Mark is the fund manager on the Smith & Williamson UK Equity Income Trust and an assistant fund manager on the Smith & Williamson Enterprise Fund. Mark is also the in-house sector specialist responsible for the technology and telecoms sectors. Prior to joining Smith & Williamson, Mark worked at Leopold Joseph/ Bank of Butterfield from 2001. Mark graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2000 with a BEng (Hons) in Electronic Engineering. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

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Mark Boucher

Mark Boucher spent six years as an institutional stockbroker after training at Wedd Durlacher. In 1992 Mark joined Leopold Joseph & Sons, where he was the fund manager of a UK long/short equity fund from its inception in 1998, before joining Smith & Williamson from 2006 to 2009 as co-manager of the Smith & Williamson Enterprise Fund. Mark left to run UK monies for a US multi-strategy hedge fund before returning in January 2013 as Head of UK Equities. He is co-manager of the Enterprise Fund and also manages the Smith & Williamson UK Equity Growth Trust.

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Michael Pascall

Michael joined Smith & Williamson in September 2009 to assist Mark Pignatelli on the Smith & Williamson European Growth Trust. He began his investment career at Schroder Investment Management in 1998, as a member of the European Team. In 2002 he joined the Investment Process Resource Unit at Schroders as a quantitative analyst where he helped to establish the unit’s two market neutral products. Michael subsequently joined Remus Capital in April 2005. He has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Leicester.

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Nick Marshall

Nick joined Smith & Williamson in June 2005. Nick is part of the MultiManager team and co-manager on the Smith & Williamson MM Endurance Balanced Fund. Nick’s responsibilities also include monitoring and recommending emerging markets funds to the rest of the firm. Prior to Smith & Williamson, he worked in the Investment Department of Iveagh Trustees. Nick graduated from the University of Newcastle in 2003 having obtained a Masters Degree in International Financial Analysis. He is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

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Robert Lyon

Bob joined AGF with over 23 years of investment industry experience. AGF is a minority shareholder of Smith & Williamson Holdings Limited. Bob is the fund manager for the Smith & Williamson Global Gold and Resources Fund and also for the AGF Precious Metals Fund, assisted by Ani Markova. Based in Toronto, he has long standing experience of all aspects of portfolio management and marketing of resource funds. Bob graduated from Carleton University, in Ottawa Canada, with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

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Robert Royle

Robert joined Smith & Williamson in December 2008 to assist Tana Focke on the Smith & Williamson North American Trust. Robert became co-manager of the fund in July 2012. Robert was previously at Citi Quilter where he worked as a North American equity analyst with responsibility for the fundamental analysis of the IT Hardware, Software, Beverages and Tobacco sectors. He has a degree in History from the University of East Anglia and started his career in 2004 as a member of the investment management team at Lloyds TSB/Hill Samuel in Jersey covering US equities. Robert is a CFA Charterholder.

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Robin Marshall

Robin Marshall is adviser to the Global Government Bond Fund. He is a Director of Fixed Income at Smith & Williamson, and advises UK institutional clients on fixed income portfolios and currency exposures. These clients range from local authority pension funds and insurance companies to absolute return (hedge) funds. Previously Robin spent 18 years at JPMorgan Chase as an economist and strategist in fixed income and foreign exchange, and became Managing Director for Economic and Policy Research. Robin graduated in Economics from Oxford University and also holds an M.Phil in Economics. Robin is frequently quoted in the international press and is a regular contributor to Bloomberg TV, Bloomberg news and other media outlets.

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Rupert Fleming

Rupert joined Smith & Williamson in November 2005. He is manager of the Smith & Williamson Enterprise Fund, and assists on the Smith & Williamson UK Equity Growth Trust. Previously Rupert was a fund manager at Leopold Joseph/Bank of Butterfield and prior to that worked as an equity salesman at Robert Fleming Securities. Rupert attended Bristol Business School, obtaining a BA(Hons).

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Tana Focke

Lady Tana Focke joined Smith & Williamson in 1997, to take on the responsibility of managing the Smith & Williamson North American Trust. Tana’s responsibilities also include some private unit trusts where she has the responsibility for the management of the US invested assets. She has over 35 years experience of the US equity market. Prior to joining Smith & Williamson, Tana worked as a US broker for First Boston, and Brown Brothers Harriman, before moving into fund management, running US funds for SEB and Equitable Life.

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Thomas Wells

Tom joined Smith & Williamson in September 2007 on the Graduate programme and became fund manager in July 2010. Tom has been part of the Fixed Interest team, working with Chris Lynas and Ian Kenny, since January 2009. Tom achieved a first class degree in Financial Services with Economics and is a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

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William Fisher

Will joined Smith & Williamson in 2005 and was appointed assistant fund manager on the Smith & Williamson MM Global Investment Fund in March 2006. He also assists on the Smith & Williamson MM Cautious Growth Fund. Additionally, Will is responsible for the management of private client portfolios, having a varied client base of private individuals, trusts and charities. Will has been involved in investment management since 1995, firstly at Rathbone Laurence Keen and subsequently at Leopold Joseph & Sons (Butterfield Private Bank). Prior to the City, Will served in the British Army for seven years. He is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

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