REG - Scottish Oriental - Appointment of non-executive Directors

Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies TrustAnnouncement

16/02/2026 14:45

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260216:nRSP2158Ta&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2158T  Scottish Oriental Smlr Co Tst PLC  16 February 2026

The Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust plc ('the Company')

LEI: 213800DBSW6WJXKNXL87

 

Appointment of non-executive Directors

The Board of the Company is pleased to announce the appointment of David Benda
and David Graham as non-executive Directors of the Company.

Mr Benda has been appointed as a non-executive Director with effect from 23
April 2026.

Mr Graham has been appointed as a non-executive Director with effect from 8
July 2026.

These appointments follow the announcement made on 28 October 2025 regarding
the retirement of Uma Bhugtiar and the Board's ongoing succession planning and
phased refresh of its composition.

Mr Benda is an experienced investment banking and investment company
specialist, and a qualified accountant. Prior to retiring in 2025 he was a
Managing Director, heading up the corporate side of the listed funds team at
Deutsche Numis and co-heading the team overall. Having joined Numis in 2008,
he advised a diverse group of investment trusts, including several focussed on
Asia. Mr Benda is also a non-executive Director of both Ecofin Global
Utilities and Infrastructure Trust plc and Albion Technology & General VCT
PLC.

Mr Graham is a qualified accountant with over three decades
of experience in asset management. He was a Managing Director at
BlackRock until 2016 with a focus on Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets for
much of his twenty-four years with the firm. Currently, Mr Graham is
the Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of JPMorgan
China Growth & Income plc, a non-executive Director of Templeton Emerging
Markets Investment Trust plc and a non-executive Director of Jio BlackRock
Asset Management Limited in India. Also, until recently, he was Chairman
of Fidelity Japan Trust PLC.

The Board believes that the appointments of Mr Benda and Mr Graham will
further strengthen the breadth of skills and experience on the Board and
support the Company's long-term strategy and governance objectives.

As previously announced, the Board continues to maintain a strong focus on
succession planning to ensure its long-term continuity and effectiveness. The
Board notes that Andrew Baird is due to retire from the Board in July 2026,
with Jeremy Whitley retiring in 2027.

There are no further matters to be disclosed pursuant to UK Listing Rule
6.4.8R in relation to either appointment.

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  BOABSGDDDXBDGLL



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved