Director Changes: March 7-11
Philip Gibbs has retired as a director of Jupiter Second Split Trust (JSS). His place on the board has been filled by Richard Pavry, who joins as a non-executive director. Pavry is a fellow colleague of Gibbs’ at Jupiter who already has a holding in the trust, thus his interests are aligned with shareholders’.
Giles Weaver joins the board of EP Global Opportunities (EPG). He was previously a non-executive director of Anglo & Overseas, which is merging with the EP fund. He is also chairman of three other trusts and a non-executive director of two further trusts. His association with listed investment companies dates back to 1990 at Murray Johnstone, now part of Aberdeen.
Graphite Enterprise Trust (GPE) has a new non-executive director on the board, Andy Pomfret. This is his second such appointment and he is also CEO of Rathbone Brothers Plc.
Hamish Buchan has announced his intention to retire as Chairman of JPMorgan American (JAM) and to step down from the board in 2012. He serves on four additional boards and is also chairman of Personal Assets Trust (PNL). He has been a board member of JAM since 2000 and is also a former chairman of the AIC.
John Grace has rejoined the board of Oryx International Growth (OIG). He previously served on the board for six years, from 1997 to 2003.
Ms Elisabeth Scott joins the board of Pacific Horizon (PHI) following the retirement of Michal Morrison. Morrison served on the board for over eight years, from September 2002. Ms Scott spent three years working for the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association and was formerly an employee of Schroder Investment Management (Hong Kong).
Josephine Dixon has been appointed a non-executive director of Standard Life Equity Income (SLET). She already holds two non-executive directorships at Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) and Baring Emerging Europe (BEE), both of which she has held since 2004. An unrelated but interesting fact: she spent three years with Newcastle United Plc.
Richard Oldfield will be joining the board of Witan (WTAN) on 1 May 2011. He served on the board of Keystone Investment Trust for 10 years until 2010 and was a director of Mercury Asset Management for seven years, having joined the firm originally in 1977. He has been a board member of two additional smaller companies trusts in his career, so brings a wealth of experience in such matters.
Director Buying
Aberforth Smaller Companies (ASL) – J Edward Cran
Alliance Trust (ATST) – Lesley Knox
Amati VCT (ATI) – Eddie Edmonstone, Douglas Lawson
F&C Investment Trust (FRCL) – David Clementi
Henderson Diversified Income (HDIV) – David Smith
Ishaan Real Estate (ISH) – Vittorio Radice
JPMorgan Mid Cap (JMF) – Margaret Littlejohns
Maven Income & Growth VCT 3 (MIG3) – Gregor Michie
Personal Assets (PNL) – Robin Angus
Primary Health Properties (PHP) – Harry Hyman
Scottish Investment Trust (SCIN) – John Kennedy
Scottish Mortgage (SMT) – John Scott
SVM UK Active (SVU) – Richard Brooman
Temple Bar (TMPL) – Arthur Copple, John Reeve
Utilico Investments (UTL) – Michael Collier
Director Selling
China Private Equity Investments (CPEH) – Chau Vinh Heng
Jackie Beard, FCSI, is Director of Closed-end Fund Research with Morningstar UK.