Meet the team
Get to know the professionals in our investment team and our board of directors
Martin Connaghan
Senior Investment Director
Samantha Fitzpatrick
Senior Investment Director
Virginia Holmes
Chair and Nomination Committee Chair
Virginia was appointed to the Board on 22 June 2022 and became Chair of the Company on 31 December 2023. She is the former CEO of AXA Investment Managers Limited and brings significant senior asset management expertise and experience to the Board. She is currently Senior Independent Director at Syncona Limited and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at Intermediate Capital Group plc. She is a current and past Chair and Trustee of a number of pension funds and was previously a founder director of the Investment Forum.
Member of the Management Engagement Committee and Nomination Committee (Chair).
Claire Binyon
Independent Non-Executive Director and Audit & Risk Committee Chair
Claire was appointed to the Board on 26 April 2018. She is a chartered accountant who, following an early career in the City, held senior corporate development and strategic planning roles with global multinational businesses including inBev, Cadbury, DS Smith and Fenner (a Michelin group company). She is a non-executive director of JPMorgan American Investment Trust PLC.
Member of the Audit & Risk Committee (Chair), Management Engagement Committee, Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee.
Wendy Colquhoun
Independent Non-Executive Director and Management Engagement Committee Chair
Wendy was appointed to the Board on 1 September 2023. She is a qualified solicitor and was, until May 2020, a partner at international law firm CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP. She has advised investment trust boards for over 25 years on advisory and transactional matters and has a thorough understanding of investment trusts and the regulatory and other challenges they face. She is a non-executive director of Capital Gearing Trust p.l.c and Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund plc, and chair of Henderson Opportunities Trust plc.
Member of the Audit & Risk Committee, Management Engagement Committee (Chair), Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee.
Gregory Eckersley
Independent Non-Executive Director
Gregory was appointed to the Board on 1 May 2023. He is an experienced equity investor with a professional executive career in a mix of leadership and asset management roles. Having begun his investment career at Cigna International Investment Limited, he gained international experience at Draycott Partners, Alliance Capital and Alliance Bernstein, managing and overseeing teams investing in emerging market and global portfolios and, until 2019, was the global head of internal equities at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. He is a non-executive director of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust plc.
Member of the Audit & Risk Committee, Management Engagement Committee, Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee.
Alexandra Mackesy
Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
Alexandra was appointed to the Board on 1 May 2016. She is a former equity analyst, having spent the majority of her executive career in Asia with SBC Warburg, JP Morgan and Credit Suisse. She has some 19 years of experience as a director of UK listed investment trusts and is currently chair of JPMorgan China Growth & Income Trust plc and a non-executive director of The Henderson Smaller Companies Trust plc. She is also a director of Board Level Partners Ltd, which provides board advisory services.
Member of the Audit & Risk Committee, Management Engagement Committee, Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee.
Nicholas Melhuish
Independent Non-Executive Director and Remuneration Committee Chair
Nicholas was appointed to the Board on 1 May 2021. He is a former Fellow and Bursar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford having retired from this role in December 2024 and following a portfolio management career most recently as Head of Global Equities at Amundi SA. He is a non executive director of JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust PLC, a trustee of the Trusthouse Charitable Foundation and a director and trustee of The London Clinic. He has also lecturesd at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University on asset management.
Member of the Audit & Risk Committee, Management Engagement Committee, Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee (Chair).