Appointment of new Emerging Markets Manager

RNS Number : 0150X

Witan Investment Trust PLC

16 February 2017

 

Witan Investment Trust plc

Legal Entity Identifier:  213800XMW68XFT6D1X59

16 February 2017

Appointment of new Emerging Markets Manager

Following an extensive review of potential Emerging Markets managers during 2016, Witan Investment Trust plc ("Witan") today confirms the appointment of GQG Partners, LLC as a manager of a segregated emerging markets portfolio for Witan, with an initial allocation of £70m, approximately 4% of the Company's net assets.

GQG Partners LLC is an independent, employee-owned investment boutique formed in June of 2016 by Rajiv Jain. As of 31st December 2016, the firm managed £615 million for clients across three products: Global, International and Emerging Markets equities. GQG Partners employs a quality growth approach to investing with an investment horizon of 5 years or longer. The portfolios are managed in a concentrated, benchmark agnostic fashion with a long term goal of outperforming the market at lower than market risk levels.

Witan's CEO, Andrew Bell commented,

"We have had investments in emerging market funds for a number of years and from 2017 emerging markets also form 5% of the benchmark that we use to measure our performance. Emerging markets are not a homogeneous asset class as countries and companies within the universe often possess quite different investment characteristics. Therefore, a key aspect of our search was to identify a manager to construct a portfolio of high quality companies which was truly benchmark agnostic, selecting the best companies in this varied and exciting area. GQG is a new partnership set up by Rajiv Jain, who will build a concentrated and unconstrained portfolio, aiming to outperform the benchmark over a full market cycle. Rajiv has a longstanding investment record in both global and emerging market equities and we believe GQG's approach to buying companies exhibiting quality and growth at a reasonable price will benefit Witan's shareholders in the future."

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For further information please contact:

Andrew Bell, Chief Executive Officer

Witan Investment Trust plc

Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

James Hart, Investment Director

Witan Investment Trust

Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

Hannah Philp, Director of Marketing

Witan Investment Trust plc

Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

Notes:

Witan Investment Trust plc

Established in 1909, Witan is one of the UK's largest investment trusts, managing £1.9bn (source: Witan, as at 31.01.2017) on behalf of over 23,000 investors. Witan operates a multi-manager structure and, with appointment of GQG, currently has 11 external managers. Witan is listed in the 'Global Growth' sector and is a member of the FTSE 250 index. Registered as an Investment Company in England No 101625. For further details please visit www.witan.com.

GQG Partners LLC

GQG Partners is a boutique investment management firm focused on global and emerging markets equities. It commenced operations on 1st June 2016 and is principally owned and controlled by Rajiv Jain, the firm's current Chairman & Chief Investment Officer, and members of his family. GQG is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For further details please visit www.gqgpartners.com.

 

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