Smith & Williamson's Tana Focke celebrates ten years at the helm of top-performing fund

This week, award-winning fund manager Lady Tana Focke celebrates ten years at the helm of the Smith & Williamson North American Trust. She is one of just four fund managers in the North American sector who have managed their funds for a decade or more.*

The fund has enjoyed outstanding results with top quartile performances over one, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten year periods.

“The last ten years have been tremendous and North America is a fascinating sector to invest in. I find there is no substitute for research and so where possible I visit the companies in which we invest to get to know them first-hand. This is one of the things which makes my job really interesting,” said Tana Focke.

Since arriving at Smith & Williamson – which now has £8.9billion of funds under management and 115 investment directors - Tana has won several accolades in recognition of the fund’s performance.

Last year, she won the ‘Fund Manager of the Year: North America’ title at the Lipper Citywire All Stars Awards 2006. Prior to this, she gained two awards at the annual Standard & Poor’s Fund Awards after her fund was ranked 1st out of 95 and 79 in its sector for one and five years respectively.

Tana works closely with Sophia Chambré when analysing sectors and stocks. The Smith & Williamson North American Trust aims to achieve long-term growth of capital, largely through investment in securities quoted on markets in North America.

Said Angus Duncan, head of distribution at Smith & Williamson Investment Management:

“We are thrilled with Tana’s outstanding performance. Several factors come into play when running a fund but, in my view, there is a distinct correlation between consistent management and good returns over the long-term. We’re very fortunate to have managers who are committed to this philosophy and have a team of strongly performing and long-serving fund managers.”

Eleven out of twelve of Smith & Williamson’s fund managers are in the top half of their relevant Investment Management Association sector for the year ending September 2007. This includes Jane Andrews who has managed the high-ranking Smith & Williamson Far Eastern Growth Trust since 1996, and Chris Lynas who has managed the Smith & Williamson Fixed Interest Trust since 1998 and which is also in the top quartile in its sector.

Taken as a whole, Smith & Williamson has over 1300 staff. The broad range of financial services provided by the firm is split approximately equally between Investment Management and Tax & Business Services. It was recently ranked as the UK’s eighth largest accountancy firm by fee income according to a survey by Accountancy magazine. It is the only firm in the UK combining an accountancy firm with a private bank.

*Source: Lipper Hindsight

For further information, contact:
Angus Duncan, head of distribution
Tel: 020 7131 8795
email Angus

PR enquiries
Layisha Laypang, tel: 020 7131 4550
Kate Harrison, tel: 020 131 4228

Disclaimer
By necessity, this briefing can only provide a short overview and it is essential to seek professional advice before applying the contents of this article. No responsibility can be taken for any loss arising from action taken or refrained from on the basis of this publication. Details correct at time of writing.

Note to editors
Smith & Williamson is an independent professional and financial services group employing over 1,300 people. The group is a leading provider of investment management, financial advisory and accountancy services to private clients, professional practices and mid-size corporates. The group operates from offices in London, Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow, Guildford, Salisbury, Southampton and Worcester.

Smith & Williamson Investment Management is part of the Smith & Williamson group. Turnover for the group for the year to April 2007 exceeded £150million.

Smith & Williamson Investment Management advises private clients, has a range of managed funds and provides private banking services.

It includes 115 investment directors, an in-house strategist and economist, as well as a currency, derivatives and bond trading desk. It runs eleven UK domiciled funds, three Dublin-based funds and one which is based in the Cayman Islands.

Smith & Williamson Limited
Regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for a range of investment business activities. A member of Nexia International, a worldwide network of independent accounting firms.

Smith & Williamson Investment Management
A trading name of

NCL Investments Limited
Member of the London Stock Exchange
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
and of

Smith & Williamson Investment Management Limited
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority