Our team
We form enduring relationships with our clients to offer a service tailored to your needs.

Al Bryant, CFA
Head of Emerging Markets, ILC Equities

Al Bryant, CFA
Head of Emerging Markets, ILC Equities
Al Bryant is a portfolio manager and CIO/DOR in the Industrial Life Cycle (ILC) Equity team, specifically managing the Emerging Market (large cap) and Emerging Market Opportunities (smid cap) strategies. Mr. Bryant joined River and Mercantile in June of 2017. Prior to that, Al spent twelve years at Credit Suisse. During that time, Al focused on developing and implementing global equity investment strategies based upon the ILC framework. The ILC framework is a structured global equity investment process that Al has been developing since 2004. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Mr. Bryant spent four years as a portfolio manager for institutional and private clients at Segall Bryant & Hamill Investment Counsel, based in Chicago. Mr. Bryant holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a BA in Urban Studies and Economics from the College of Wooster

Alex Hoctor-Duncan
Chief Executive Officer

Alex Hoctor-Duncan
Chief Executive Officer
Alex Hoctor-Duncan has worked within the industry since 1995. He was Global Head of Aberdeen Standard Investments until June 2021. Before joining Standard Life Aberdeen in September 2018, Alex was Head of the European Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business at BlackRock. Prior to this Alex was Head of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers UK business which subsequently became part of BlackRock. Alex was on the board of the UK Investment Association and is currently a non-executive director of TISA. Alex became Chief Executive Officer of River and Mercantile in February 2022. His significant industry experience and asset management expertise will contribute to River and Mercantile's long-term sustainable success.

Alex Stout
Analyst, PVT Equities

Alex Stout
Analyst, PVT Equities
Alex joined R&M in 2020 as an Equity Analyst to work across several of the global funds. Prior to joining R&M, he worked as an Equity Analyst at investment bank Peel Hunt for four years covering the UK Building & Construction sector. Alex started his career as an M&A analyst at Spayne Lindsay. He graduated from the University of Durham in 2014 with an Upper Second Class Degree in Biology.

Allan Vlah
Partner, Infrastructure

Allan Vlah
Partner, Infrastructure
Allan has approximately 20 years’ experience as a buy-side infrastructure investment professional with deep European experience in the sustainable energy and transportation sectors from both transaction origination/execution and post-acquisition management perspectives. An extensive track record developing and leading investment strategies. At Aviva Investors, Allan previously led the infrastructure equity’s thermal power investment strategy where he oversaw the creation of one of the UK’s largest EfW portfolios that spanned a dozen investments through a mix of equity and real estate investments covering conventional combustion, gasification and anaerobic digestion technologies. At Aviva, Allan also established the infrastructure lease strategy and the Energy Centres Fund where he acted as portfolio manager and led development of the equity teams’ European waste strategy. Allan’s experience at Macquarie’s European Infrastructure Fund (MEIF) covered acquisition activities in the transportation and heating sectors as well as asset manager for the UK largest maritime passenger company. Skilled in Portfolio Construction, Asset Management, Valuation, Financial Modelling, and Investments.

Anna Pugh, CFA
Analyst, PVT Equities

Anna Pugh, CFA
Analyst, PVT Equities
Anna graduated from the University of Bath with a First-Class Honours degree in Economics in 2012. Prior to joining R&M, Anna worked as a product specialist at Neptune Investment Management undertaking analysis on their equity fund range. Anna joined River and Mercantile in 2018 as an Equity Analyst to work closely on the UK portfolios. In 2021, she was promoted to alternate Portfolio Manager on the ES River and Mercantile UK Equity Income fund. Anna is a CFA charterholder.

Anne-Sophie Eveno
Principal, Infrastructure

Anne-Sophie Eveno
Principal, Infrastructure
Anne-Sophie is an experienced investment professional with 10+ years working in the investment management industry, originating and executing a range of transactions across greenfield and brownfield infrastructure in the solar, energy from waste and anaerobic digestion sectors. Anne-Sophie has advanced financial modelling skills enabling the efficient assessment of opportunities as well as support the ongoing valuation of portfolios.

Arabella Townshend
Head of Institutional Distribution

Arabella Townshend
Head of Institutional Distribution
Arabella is a managing director, and Head of Institutional Distribution, working with her team to provide investment solutions to pension schemes, their consultants and trustees. Arabella joined River and Mercantile in 2010 from Edinburgh University where she gained a degree in Geography.

Campbell Fleming
Director

Campbell Fleming
Director
Campbell has worked within the investment industry since the 1990s. He was Global Head of Distribution & Marketing at Standard Life Aberdeen until September 2021. Before joining Aberdeen Asset Management in August 2016, Campbell was Chief Executive - EMEA and Global Chief Operating Officer at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, having joined that firm as Global Head of Distribution in November 2009. Prior to this, Campbell was Head of UK for JPMorgan Asset Management. He trained as a barrister in Australia before moving to the UK in 1995. He also chairs The Big Exchange. Campbell is CEO of AssetCo plc.

Charles Benett, CFA
Managing Director, PVT Equities

Charles Benett, CFA
Managing Director, PVT Equities
Charles graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, with a degree in Philosophy, Psychology and Physiology. He spent five years in the Royal Navy, including active service in the Gulf. After studying for an MBA at Columbia Business School, New York, he worked as a sell-side Equity Research Analyst for Toronto Dominion Securities (USA). Returning to the UK, he worked as a Technical Product Manager at Micromuse, worked on his own technology start-up and studied for an MSc in Computer Science at Imperial College, London. Before joining RAMAM, he worked at Advanced Portfolio Technologies (APT) in software development and risk consulting. Charles joined RAMAM in July 2006. Charles is the Managing Director of the PVT Equity team. Charles is a CFA charter holder.

Daniel Wilcockson
Associate, Infrastructure

Daniel Wilcockson
Associate, Infrastructure
As an Associate, Daniel is responsible for assisting with all operations within the Infrastructure business, including portfolio management, origination, post-acquisition investment management and client engagement. Before joining R&M in 2021, Daniel started his career at Aviva Investors in 2019 as an Investment Analyst after completing the summer internship the previous year, where he gained experience in the analysis and valuation of assets in the energy from waste, fibre and utility scale wind strategies. Daniel was responsible for the ongoing management, PPA origination and optimisation for a £300m portfolio of utility-scale onshore wind. Daniel has a Masters (MEng) in Chemical Engineering (First Class Honours), with a research dissertation on the modelling and simulation of liquid air energy storage (LAES), a new form of grid balancing infrastructure, alongside Highview Power.

Eduard Hernandez, CFA
Analyst, PVT Equities

Eduard Hernandez, CFA
Analyst, PVT Equities
Eduard graduated from Barcelona University in 2010 with a First-Class Honours degree in Mathematics. In 2011 he took a Masters in Financial Forecasting & Investment at the University of Glasgow where he graduated with distinction. Prior to joining R&M, he worked at P-Solve (now Schroders Solutions) as an Investment Analyst, gaining extensive experience and exposure across a wide array of functions and asset classes. Eduard joined River and Mercantile in January 2015 as an Equity Analyst and has supported the Global and Recovery focused strategies since. In January 2022 Eduard started managing the sleeve of International stocks in the UK Recovery fund. Eduard is a CFA charterholder.

Fergus Helliwell
Partner, Infrastructure

Fergus Helliwell
Partner, Infrastructure
Fergus has approximately 9 years’ experience as an infrastructure investment professional with experience working across a number of infrastructure funds investing and managing in social infrastructure as well as renewable energy investments. Fergus’ experience includes: investment strategy development and implementation, origination and postacquisition investment management, fundraising and client engagement.

Gary Dowsett
Director of ESG, Global Analyst, PVT Equities

Gary Dowsett
Director of ESG, Global Analyst, PVT Equities
Gary is an experienced investment professional who started his investment career at Phillips & Drew (now UBS Asset Management) as a Fund Manager, where he was heavily involved in stock selection and analysis. Prior to joining River and Mercantile in 2016 he worked for Willis Towers Watson as a Senior Consultant focusing on manager research and at THS Partners as a relationship manager. Gary is Director of ESG and a Global Equity Analyst supporting our global equity strategies. As Director of ESG he implemented the sustainability framework in the PVT Equities team and works closely with the portfolio managers and analysts throughout the research process.

George Ensor, CFA
Portfolio Manager, PVT Equities

George Ensor, CFA
Portfolio Manager, PVT Equities
George graduated from Bristol University with an Upper Second Class degree in Chemistry in 2008 before joining Smith & Williamson Investment Management as a graduate trainee where he worked for five years as an analyst and Private Client Investment Manager. George joined R&M in March 2014 and is Portfolio Manager of the ES R&M UK Listed Smaller Companies Fund and the R&M UK Micro Cap Investment Company. George is a CFA charter holder.

George Judd
UK Institutional Distribution

George Judd
UK Institutional Distribution
George graduated from the University of Newcastle with an Upper Second Class degree in History in 2016 before joining R&M. George works in the UK Institutional distribution team where he covers all institutional channels but with a particular focus on UK consultant relations.

Hugh Sergeant
Head of Value & Recovery Strategies, PVT Equities

Hugh Sergeant
Head of Value & Recovery Strategies, PVT Equities
Hugh graduated from the London School of Economics with a degree in Economics. He joined Gartmore in 1987 as a UK equities graduate trainee and moved to Phillips & Drew in 1990, managing UK equities throughout his twelve years there. In March 2000 Hugh was promoted to Head of UK Equities at UBS Global Asset Management and Chairman of the UK Equities Committee. He joined Société Générale Asset Management in 2002 as Head of UK Equities. Hugh was one of the founding members of R&M Asset Management in 2006. Hugh is Head of Value and Recovery strategies within the PVT Equities team and manages the UK Alpha, UK Recovery, Global Recovery and Global Alpha strategies.

Ian Berry
Head of Infrastructure

Ian Berry
Head of Infrastructure
Ian has over 25 years’ experience as an infrastructure investment professional, with extensive experience in establishing, investing and managing funds and investing in energy-transition and digital-transition infrastructure. Ian’s experience includes: building and leading infrastructure teams/businesses, defining fund strategy, determining portfolio construction, investment strategy, overseeing origination and post-acquisition investment management and client engagement. Ian’s background is also heavily focused on the infrastructure sector with experience in infrastructure lending, infrastructure M&A advisory, deal execution, financial modelling and valuations and sector research.

James Sym
Head of Equities

James Sym
Head of Equities
James graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in Natural Sciences. James joined Cazenove Capital in 2007 as a graduate trainee in Wealth Management before moving to work on the Pan European desk in 2008, initially on the UK desk. In 2012 he launched the Cazenove European Income fund as co-manager and, following the Schroders acquisition of Cazenove in 2013, was appointed manager of a number of continental and pan European equity products ultimately managing over £2bn of client assets as well as forming the specialist European equity team at Schroders. James joined River and Mercantile in June 2020 to launch the firm’s European franchise and currently manages the ES R&M European Fund. James was appointed as Head of Equities in 2022 with responsibility for driving R&M’s equities products forward.

Laura Corbetta, CFA
Quantitative Equity Analyst, PVT Equities

Laura Corbetta, CFA
Quantitative Equity Analyst, PVT Equities
Laura graduated cum Laude from the University of Milan Bicocca with a degree in Business Administration and Management in 2014. She continued her studies obtaining cum Laude a MSc in Finance at Bocconi University in 2017, with major in Quantitative Finance. Laura started her career in Milan, working as a research assistant at Bocconi University, and then joining Morgan Stanley Investment Management sales office. She moved to London in 2017, working as an associate at London Stock Exchange Group, prior to become a multi-asset portfolio analyst at Natixis Investment Managers in 2018. Laura joined R&M in 2020 as Equity Analyst, with a focus on Quantitative Research. Laura is a CFA charter holder.

Lucy Cheng
ESG & Stewardship Analyst, PVT Equities

Lucy Cheng
ESG & Stewardship Analyst, PVT Equities
Lucy graduated from the University of Bath with a degree in Accounting and Finance in 2021. Her previous experience includes internships at AXA Investment Managers, which focused on the controlling of staff cost, and at the British Business Bank where she reported on the position of UK SMEs in their transition to net zero. Lucy joined R&M in October 2021 as an ESG & Stewardship Analyst to support the PVT Equities with Sustainability and Stewardship.

Lucy Draper
Director, Institutional Distribution

Lucy Draper
Director, Institutional Distribution
Lucy joined the Institutional sales team at River and Mercantile in 2022 from its parent company, AssetCo, where she has been Director of Distribution, leading International Business Development for AssetCo and its affiliates since 2021. In her 15 years in the industry, she has worked in London, the Middle East and Asia, raising assets across multiple asset classes from wholesale and institutional clients. Prior to joining AssetCo, Lucy climbed the ranks at Aberdeen Asset Management (Abrdn). In addition to sales, Lucy leads on the cloud based wealth platform project in the US and is an advocate for diversity within the industry, actively promoting inclusion, gender and social mobility.

Marcus Honig
Sales Director, London & South East

Marcus Honig
Sales Director, London & South East
Marcus graduated from Glasgow University with an MA (Hons) degree in 2001. Throughout his career in financial services Marcus has worked for companies including Chase de Vere, Scottish Widows and Neptune Investment Management, before joining R&M in June 2017. Marcus holds the CII Level 4 Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning as well as the Certificate in Discretionary Investment Management. He is an experienced Sales and Distribution professional with strong client relationships across the UK.

Martin Canavan
Sales Director, North England, Scotland, Ireland & Isle of Man

Martin Canavan
Sales Director, North England, Scotland, Ireland & Isle of Man
Martin began his career in asset management sales in 1996 with Deutsche Bank. He has since held roles with AEGON Asset Management and Merian Global Investors (formerly Old Mutual), before joining R&M in August 2020. He is a highly experienced Sales professional with strong relationships across a range of client segments, covering the UK, Isle of Man and Ireland. Martin holds the Investment Management Certificate.

Matt Hudson
Portfolio Manager, PVT Equities

Matt Hudson
Portfolio Manager, PVT Equities
Matt has over 20 years' experience of managing UK equities, with a deep specialist knowledge of equity income strategies. After qualifying as a chartered accountant with Coopers and Lybrand, Matt started his investment career in 2001 as an assistant fund manager at AIB Govett Fund Management. In 2001, he joined Cazenove Fund Management to launch a new fund, the Equity Income Trust for Charities and to develop his investment approach for equity income. In 2005 he launched the Cazenove UK Equity Income Fund which became one of the best performing funds in the income sector, eventually growing to c.£1bn in assets under management and which was twice shortlisted for the IA best UK equity income fund of the year. For over a decade Matt was a key member of the highly successful and award winning Pan European Equities team at Cazenove Capital, combining his portfolio management responsibilities with his analytical work on a range of UK sectors including Banking, Utilities, Chemicals, Mining and the Building & Construction sectors. In 2013, Matt moved, along with the rest of the business cycle team, to Schroders following their take-over of Cazenove. He continued to focus on his key income fund responsibilities and was later appointed as the Head of the Schroders Pan European Business Cycle Team, managing a team of senior Portfolio Managers responsible for client assets of over £5bn in long and long/short strategies. Matt joined R&M in 2022 and is lead portfolio manager of the ES River and Mercantile UK Equity Income Fund.

Mayan Uthayakumar
Portfolio Manager, PVT Equities

Mayan Uthayakumar
Portfolio Manager, PVT Equities
Mayan graduated from the University of Oxford in 2007 with an Upper Second-Class degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. In 2009 he took a Masters in Finance, Money and Banking at the University of St Andrews where he graduated with Distinction. Mayan joined Goldman Sachs in 2010 where he worked as an Associate in the Global Investment Research team working specifically on equity analysis in the small and mid-cap sectors. In 2014 he joined Sanford C. Bernstein where he researched European Utilities. Mayan joined River and Mercantile in November 2015 as an Equity Analyst specialising in analysis on companies in the small and micro-cap sectors of the UK Market. During his time at River and Mercantile, he has been Director of Research, responsible for the bottom-up research and alpha generation process, and alternate portfolio manager on the UK Smaller Companies strategy. Mayan is currently co-manager of the UK Dynamic Equity strategy.

Nick Pearse
Sales Director, Midlands, South West & Channel Islands

Nick Pearse
Sales Director, Midlands, South West & Channel Islands
Nick joined R&M in January 2021 from Jupiter, which acquired Merian Global Investors in 2020, where Nick worked for the past decade.

Peter McKellar
Director

Peter McKellar
Director
Peter McKellar has spent nearly all of his working career in private markets, in particular private equity and infrastructure investment management and direct operating management. He retired in September 2020 as executive chairman and global head of private markets for Standard Life Aberdeen plc, where he oversaw investment management activities across private equity, infrastructure, real estate, natural resources, and certain private credit capabilities, totalling £55 billion of AUM.

Simon Smith
Head of Wholesale Distribution

Simon Smith
Head of Wholesale Distribution
Simon Smith is Managing Director, and Head of UK Wholesale Distribution, responsible for creating a market leading customer centric distribution business working with wealth managers across the UK for the benefit of investors. Simon has spent a 25 year career working for some of the industry's leading asset managers including M&G, Standard Life Investments and most recently nine years overseeing the growth of Merian UK Wholesale (Old Mutual Global Investors).

Sudin Poddar
Portfolio Manager, ILC Equities

Sudin Poddar
Portfolio Manager, ILC Equities
Sudin Poddar, CFA is a Portfolio Manager and Analyst on the Industrial Life Cycle (ILC) Equity team. Prior to joining River and Mercantile Group in June of 2017, Mr. Poddar spent ten years at Credit Suisse helping build and grow a core equities business centered on the Industrial Life Cycle framework. Primary amongst his responsibilities was to manage a Global All Country Small Cap strategy which was incepted in January of 2014. Mr. Poddar holds an MBA in Financial Analysis and a BS in Business with a Major in Finance from Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

William Lough
Portfolio Manager, PVT Equities

William Lough
Portfolio Manager, PVT Equities
Will graduated from the University of Oxford with a First-Class Honours Degree in Modern History, before joining R&M as an equity analyst in 2009. In 2013 he was promoted to Director of Research and in 2014 became alternate Portfolio Manager on Hugh Sergeant’s Recovery and Alpha strategies. Will is the lead Portfolio Manager on the Global Sustainable Opportunities strategy, and co-manager of the UK Dynamic Equity strategy and Global Alpha strategy.
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