Firm opens investment management service in Bristol

Smith & Williamson has opened an investment management service from its Bristol office. With a fifteen-strong team, the firm now has one of the largest investment teams in the South West. Taken across the group, Smith & Williamson currently has 115 investment directors and about £8.9billion under management.

The investment directors who have recently joined the Bristol office are John Erskine, Vere Boscawen, John Gerard Leigh, Harriet Richmond and James Shrives.

David Cobb, head of investment management at Smith & Williamson said:

“We are delighted to welcome this experienced team to our Bristol office who will be complemented by our substantial London team which includes top-rated and long-established fund managers.”

“The addition of this new team means we now provide bespoke investment management and advice from five offices, as well as London. The Bristol team will work alongside existing Smith & Williamson staff and have the ability to provide our full range of private client services, spanning tax, pensions and personal finance.”

Said John Erskine, head of the Bristol investment team:

“Feedback has been extremely positive and so we are making an excellent start. As Smith & Williamson is an independent investment house we can be flexible whilst also drawing from a very wide range of investments, and this approach enables us to agree a strategy which meets clients’ short and longer-term needs.”

Smith & Williamson’s investment management credentials have recently gained some high profile coverage with several of their managed funds achieving top quartile performance over a number of time periods.

David Cobb, said: “The managed funds are, to some extent, the shop window of our operation and demonstrate that we have the appropriate resources and investment processes to generate excellent performance.”

The Bristol investment team will operate from the offices of Smith & Williamson Solomon Hare, which has a headcount of over 200. Besides offering investment advice, Smith & Williamson provides a broad range of accountancy and corporate advisory services and ranks as the eighth largest firm of accountants*.

*according to Accountancy magazine’s latest survey of accountancy practices.

For further information:

David Cobb, head of investment at Smith & Williamson
tel: 020 7131 4681

PR queries to:

Kate Harrison 020 7131 4228
Layisha Laypang 020 7131 4550

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-to-large corporates.

The broad range of financial services provided by Smith & Williamson is split approximately equally between Investment Management and Tax & Business Services. Smith & Williamson Investment Management has about £8.9billion of client assets under management.

Some of the firm’s senior staff members are well established figures in the investment world. Among them are Lady Tana Focke (Smith & Williamson North American Trust), Jane Andrews (Smith & Williamson Far Eastern Trust), Chris Lynas (Smith & Williamson Fixed Interest Trust), James Burns (who runs a number of high performing multi-manager funds), Mark Boucher (Smith & Williamson Enterprise Fund) and David Hunter who has been managing several highly successful Bermuda-based funds since the early ‘80s. Eleven out of twelve of the firm’s fund managers are in the top half of their IMA sector for the year ending September ‘07.

The client base of Smith & Williamson Investment Management primarily includes private individuals, their family trusts, SIPPs (self invested personal pensions) and charities.

Smith & Williamson provides investment services from five of its offices, these are London, Belfast (Cunningham Coates), Glasgow, Guildford, Worcester and now Bristol. The firm’s other offices are in Maidstone, Salisbury and Southampton.

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

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.