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Andrew Bell was appointed a Director and Chief Executive Officer from February 2010. He is responsible for the overall management of Witan. He is also Chief Executive of Witan investment Services Limited and Chairman of the Diverse Income Trust plc. Previously he worked at Rensburg Sheppards Investment Management Limited as Head of Research and as an Equity Strategist and Co-Head of the Investment Trusts team at BZW and Credit Suisse First Boston. Prior to the City, he worked for Shell in Oman, leaving to take a Sloan Fellowship at the London Business School. Past appointments include as a non-Executive Director of Henderson High Income Trust plc (2004-18), Chairman of Gabelli Value Plus+ Trust plc (2015-18)and Chairman of the Association of Investment Companies (2011-13).

Based in Henley-on-Thames, Jonathan is responsible for the management of a number of UK small cap portfolios.

Jonathan began his investment career with Lazard Asset Management in 1997, where he specialised in private client fund administration, before joining our company within a similar role in 2000. In 2004 Jonathan joined our UK Equities team as a trainee fund manager and, after three years specialising in the UK small cap sector, became a fund manager in his own right.

Jonathan graduated with a BSc in Bio-Chemistry from UMIST and has also secured both the Investment Management Certificate from the CFA Society of the UK and the Securities Institute Diploma.

James is Head of the Global Income Growth Team and Co-Manager of The Scottish American Investment Company PLC. (SAINTS). He spent time previously at the firm as a Global Sector Specialist and as an Investment Manager in our US Equities Team, having joined Baillie Gifford’s graduate scheme in 2004. Prior to joining Baillie Gifford James spent three years working at The Scotsman newspaper, where he was the Economics Editor. James is a CFA Charterholder, graduated MA (Hons) in Economics-Philosophy from the University of St Andrews in 2000 and MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics in 2001.

Mike Kerley, Portfolio Manager of Henderson Far East Income Trust, has managed Pacific equities since joining Janus Henderson in 2004 and managed the Investment Trust since 2007. Previously, he was with ISIS Asset Management as Director of Pacific Basin equities. Prior to this, he assumed the positions of fund manager for global equities and for emerging market equities at Invesco. He has managed money in the Asia-Pacific region since 1993 and has 35 years of financial industry experience.

Laith Khalaf started his career in financial services at Hargreaves Lansdown in 2001, and has worked in a variety of roles across pensions and investments, covering both DIY and advised business. In 2007 he began to focus on research and analysis, and has since become a leading industry commentator, and a regular contributor to the financial pages of the national press. He’s a frequent guest on TV and radio, and for several years provided daily business bulletins on LBC. He now holds the position of financial analyst with AJ Bell, responsible for producing analysis and content focused on investments and personal finance topics for AJ Bell’s customers and the financial media.  

Nick joined Schroders Capital in January 2012 and is Head of UK Real Estate. He is a member of the Global Direct Investment Committee and the Indirect Investment Committee, and is a board member of Schroder Real Estate Investment Management Limited. Nick is Fund Manager for Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust.

Prior to joining Schroders, Nick was Head of UK Commercial Funds at Invista Real Estate. Nick began his investment career at LaSalle Investment Management and has 22 years real estate experience.

Christian Schneider joined the Global Equity Fund Management Team as a portfolio manager in April 2000 and managed a US Equity strategy until 2002. Christian began his investment career in June 1996 with DG-Bank as a trainee portfolio manager for one year; and then moved to DG Capital in February 1997 to March 2000 as a global equity portfolio manager, where he was also responsible for portfolio construction for equity and balanced funds. Christian graduated with a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Giessen and is a CFA charter holder.

Tom is AJ Bell’s head of retirement policy and a prominent commentator on retirement issues. Tom is regularly quoted in national print and broadcast media, including appearing on a weekly BBC Radio London personal finance slot. He joined AJ Bell as senior analyst in 2016, having previously spent six years as a financial journalist. He has a degree in Economics from Newcastle University.