31/05/2007

Caspar Trenchard Appointed To Manage UK Opportunities Fund

Standard Life Investments, a leading investment house, today announced the appointment of Caspar Trenchard to its UK Smaller Companies team. Caspar is currently the fund manager of the British Opportunities Fund at First State Investments, Edinburgh.

Reporting to Harry Nimmo, Head of UK Smaller Companies, Caspar will have responsibility for managing SLI's UK Opportunities Fund, as well as generating investment ideas across the UK Smaller Companies and UK Large Cap equity teams. He joins the company as an Investment Director.

In addition, both companies are in discussions about the possibility of SLI taking over management of the assets of First State's British Opportunities Fund.

Harry Nimmo, Head of UK Smaller Companies, Standard Life Investments, said:

"It's great news that Caspar has decided to join Standard Life Investments. In only a short time at First State Investments he has built up an enviable track record of outperformance – having transformed the performance of his fund from bottom quartile to top decile over three years. This is one of the most improved performances of any fund in the IMA UK All Companies universe over that period.

"Caspar was a leading stock picker when he serviced the Standard Life Investments account during his time in institutional equity sales. His fund performance at First State shows that he has been able to make the transition to fund management with ease. I am confident that he will prove to be a valuable addition to the UK Equities team."

Commenting on his appointment, Caspar Trenchard said:

"I have known the SLI team for over a decade and I'm delighted to be joining them at such an exciting time in the company's development. I especially look forward to building upon the strong track record of the UK Opportunities Fund."

The Standard Life Investments' £446m UK Opportunities Fund has been top decile over 6 months, 1, 2 and 3 years, returning 99.87% to investors verses a sector average of 66.93% over a three year period (S&P Micropal for the period 01/04/04 - 01/04/07).