REG - Edinburgh Inv. Trust - Portfolio manager succession

Edinburgh Investment TrustAnnouncement

03/10/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 4287O  Edinburgh Investment Trust PLC  03 October 2023

THE EDINBURGH INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

LEI:
549300HV0VXCRONER808
Date:  3 OCTOBER 2023

 

Portfolio manager succession

 

The Directors of the Edinburgh Investment Trust plc (the "Company") have been
informed by Liontrust Fund Partners LLP ("Liontrust") that James de Uphaugh,
the Company's portfolio manager, will retire in February 2024 after 36 years
in the industry. James will continue to manage the Company's portfolio until
February and will then be replaced as portfolio manager by his colleague Imran
Sattar. As part of the succession, Imran has been appointed the Company's
deputy portfolio manager, replacing Chris Field who is due to retire from
Liontrust in November. The Directors thank James and Chris for their careful
stewardship of the Company's portfolio and strong investment results since the
appointment of the investment management team in March 2020.

Imran has been a member of the Liontrust Global Fundamental Team ("GFT") since
2018, managing UK equity client portfolios jointly alongside James and Chris.
Imran is also lead manager for another UK equity strategy in his own right.
Before joining the GFT, he was a Managing Director and Fund Manager at
Blackrock, where he managed UK equity funds with combined assets of over £2
billion. Imran joined Mercury Asset Management (now Blackrock) in 1997. He
will become head of the GFT in February 2024.

Once in place as the Company's portfolio manager, Imran will continue to apply
the same flexible investment process that has been the hallmark of the
portfolio since March 2020. Other than the change of portfolio manager, there
will be no change to the Company's two investment objectives, strategy or the
portfolio's key features - namely a high conviction portfolio of 40 to 50
differentiated holdings, primarily invested in UK equities, underpinned by
fundamental company research. Imran, like James, will also be supported by a
collegiate team of nine fund managers and analysts: the depth of experience
across the GFT will be an important factor to ensure the repeatability of
attractive long-term returns in the years ahead.

The Company's Chair, Elisabeth Stheeman, said:

"James oversaw the successful transition of the Company's management to the
Global Fundamental Team and has delivered impressive investment performance in
volatile market conditions. Over this period, from 31 March 2020 to 28
September 2023, the Net Asset Value per share (cum income, debt at fair value)
has risen by 73.2% and the share price total return has risen by 80.2%,
against 49.2% for the comparator index (the FTSE All Share) 1 .

"Imran has a strong investment pedigree, deep knowledge of the UK equity
market, has long experience of managing large investment portfolios, and has
worked alongside James and Chris for many years. He and his colleagues are
well placed to build on the strong foundations put in place since 2020 and we
look forward to working with him."

 

Enquiries

Edinburgh Investment Trust plc

Elisabeth Stheeman (Chair)         via Montfort below

Liontrust Fund Partners LLP

James
Mowat
+44 20 3908 8822

Investec Bank plc

Tom
Skinner
+44 20 7597 4196

Montfort Communications

Gay Collins
 
+44 7798 626282

Shireen Farhana                               +44
7757 299250

Ella
Henderson
+44 7762 245122

eit@montfort.london

 

Notes

The Company's twin objectives are (1) an increase of the Net Asset Value per
share in excess of the growth of the FTSE All-Share index and (2) growth in
dividends per share in excess of the rate of inflation. To achieve this, the
portfolio manager constructs a high-conviction, differentiated and diversified
portfolio of listed equities. The investment approach is flexible and 'total
return', i.e. shareholder returns should come through a combination of income
and capital growth over the long term. Stocks that might be labelled 'growth',
'value' and 'recovery' may all be held. At least 80% of assets are invested in
UK-listed shares.

 1  Source: Liontrust Fund Partners LLP

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