Meet the team

Vinay Agarwal is Lead Manager of The Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust plc and is a Director of FSSA Investment Managers. Joining FSSA Investment Managers in 2011, Vinay invests in Regional Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. Vinay graduated in 2002 with a management degree with a major in Finance from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and has more than 20 years of investment experience. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree with a major in Accountancy from Calcutta University.

Sreevardhan Agarwal is a Co-Manager of The Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust plc and an Investment Analyst at FSSA Investment Managers. Sreevardhan joined FSSA Investment Managers as a graduate in 2014 and provides research support to the portfolio managers, with a focus on the Australia, India and regional smaller companies. Sree has 8 years of investment experience. He graduated from the National University of Singapore with a management degree and specialisation in Finance.

Martin Lau is the Deputy Manager of The Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust plc and the Managing Partner of FSSA Investment Managers. He has been with the team for more than 20 years, starting with the firm as Director, Greater China Equities, in 2002. Martin is the lead manager of a number of FSSA Investment Managers funds, based in Hong Kong. He has more than 25 years of investment experience and graduated from Cambridge University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master’s degree in Engineering. He is also a CFA charterholder.

Jeremy joined the Board in March 2017. Following a twenty nine year investment career, he left full time employment at Aberdeen Asset Management at the end of March 2017, where he held the position of Head of UK and European equities since July 2009. Previous roles there include being a Senior Investment Manager on the Global Equities team as well as the Asian equities team, based in Singapore, where he was lead manager of the Edinburgh Dragon Trust plc.

He began his investment career at SG Warburg & Co in 1988. He is a non-executive Director of JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust plc and Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust plc. Jeremy is also a member of the Remuneration Committee, Management Engagement Committee and Nominations Committee.

Andrew joined the Board in June 2017. After a period with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, he worked for thirteen years at JP Morgan, culminating in a role as Head of Asian Equity Research and co-manager of the Asian Equities division in Hong Kong. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1998 as co-director of Asian Equity Research, followed by a senior management role in the European Equity Research department.

On leaving Goldman Sachs in 2005 he co-founded Chayton Capital, an alternative investment management firm which he chaired until 2012. Since that time he has had a variety of non-executive roles in the investment management, social enterprise and charity sectors. Andrew is the Senior Independent Director, the Chairman of the Management Engagement Committee, the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee, the Chairman of the Nominations Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.

Uma joined the Board in October 2023. She is an experienced corporate lawyer, most recently serving as Head of Compliance at Hillhouse Capital Management. Prior to this she was the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Tybourne Capital Management and the Head of Asia Pacific Equities Client and Business Solutions for Credit Suisse. Uma is also a member of the Audit Committee, Remuneration Committee, Management Engagement Committee and Nominations Committee.

Michelle joined the Board in April 2020. Ms Paisley is a partner at global boutique advisory firm CC Strategic Partners focused on VC funds and early stage companies. Prior to that she was Managing Director at MVision, a global third-party advisor to Private Equity Funds. Michelle moved to Hong Kong in 2006 to head up Macquarie Securities’ Hong Kong/China institutional equities business, leading a 50-strong team of traders, salespeople and analysts across Hong Kong and Shanghai.

She was a fund manager during the dot com boom with Bankers Trust. Michelle started as an analyst at HSBC James Capel in London, before relocating to Australia with Citigroup in 1996. Michelle is the Chair of the Audit Committee, and a member of the Remuneration Committee, Management Engagement Committee and Nominations Commitee.

Karen, a CFA Charterholder, is an experienced investment manager. She started her career at BlackRock and in 2006 moved to Genesis Investment Management, a long-only Emerging Markets equities specialist. During her seventeen years as a Portfolio Manager at Genesis she focused primarily on investing in listed businesses in Asia across the full range of market capitalisations. Since 2020 Karen has also chaired the GenEM Foundation, which funds sustainable, long-term income generation opportunities for marginalised communities in developing countries.