Investment team
The team manages a range of Asia Pacific equity strategies on behalf of institutional and wholesale clients globally, with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Edinburgh.
The history of the team traces its roots back to Stewart Ivory & Company Limited, which was formed in 1985 by the merger of Stewart Fund Managers Limited and Ivory & Co. Stewart Fund Managers can trace its history to the establishment of The Scottish American Investment Company plc, Edinburgh’s oldest investment trust, in 1873.
In its more recent form, the team formed when Angus Tulloch joined Stewart Ivory & Company in 1988 to establish an Asia Pacific and Global Emerging Markets capability. Stewart Ivory & Company was subsequently bought by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in 2000. The investment team effectively operates as an autonomous investment management team within First Sentier Investors.
After years of organic growth, increasing both funds under management and team members, the team split into two in July 2015: one primarily based in Edinburgh (Stewart Investors) and the other primarily based in Hong Kong (FSSA Investment Managers). The split will allow the two successor teams to develop as smaller, dynamic investment groups, recognising that this has been critical to their success over the last 20 years. There is no change to either team’s investment philosophy.
Within the FSSA Investment Managers team, Vinay Agarwal has been appointed Lead Manager of the Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust plc, Martin Lau is Co-Manager and Scott McNab and Sree Agarwal are the Deputy Managers. They are supported by the wider FSSA Investment Managers team of analysts who help to generate investment ideas for the portfolio.
Vinay Agarwal, Lead Manager
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 manages Regional Asia and Indian Subcontinent portfolios. Vinay graduated in 2002 with a management degree with a major in Finance from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and has more than 17 years of investment experience. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree with a major in Accountancy from Calcutta University.
Martin Lau, Co-Manager
Sreevardhan Agarwal, Investment Analyst
Sreevardhan Agarwal is a Senior Investment Analyst at FSSA Investment Manager. 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.