James de Uphaugh

The trust has been under the management of Liontrust Fund Partners LLP. Mr de Uphaugh’s stewardship from March 2020 to September 2023 saw the trust’s share price total return surge by 80.2%, outperforming the FTSE All-Share Index, which increased by 49.2%.

As part of the succession, Mr Sattar has been appointed the company’s deputy portfolio manager, replacing Chris Field who is due to retire from Liontrust in November.

Mr Sattar has been a member of the Liontrust Global Fundamental Team (GFT) since 2018, managing UK equity client portfolios jointly alongside Mr de Uphaugh and Mr Field.

Mr Sattar 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.

Once in place as the Company’s portfolio manager, Mr Sattar 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.

Mr Sattar, like Mr De Uphaugh, 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).

“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.”