Meet the team
Get to know the professionals in our investment team and our board of directors
Martin Connaghan
Senior Investment Director
Martin joined Glasgow based investment firm Murray Johnstone in 1998 and abrdn via the acquisition of Murray Johnstone in 2001. Martin has held a number of roles including Dealer, ESG Analyst and Credit Analyst however he has been focused on the management of Global Equity and Income mandates for the last 17 years. Martin has been part of the fund management team of Murray International Trust since 2017.
Samantha Fitzpatrick
Senior Investment Director
Samantha is a Senior Investment Director on the Developed Market Equity Team at abrdn. Samantha joined the company in 2001 via the acquisition of Murray Johnstone where she was a Performance and Risk Analyst. Samantha has been involved in the management of global equity portfolios for the last twenty years. She has a BSC (Hons) degree in Mathematics from the University of Strathclyde and is a CFA Charter holder.
Virginia Holmes
Chair
Virginia is the former CEO of AXA Investment Managers Limited and brings significant senior asset management expertise and experience to the Board. She is currently Senior Independent Director at Syncona Limited and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at Intermediate Capital Group plc. She is a current and past Chair and Trustee of a number of pension funds and was previously a founder director of the Investment Forum.
Claire Binyon
Independent Non-Executive Director
Claire is a chartered accountant who, following an early career in the City, held senior corporate development and strategic planning roles with global multinational businesses including inBev, Cadbury, DS Smith and Fenner (a Michelin group company). She is a non-executive director of JPMorgan American Investment Trust PLC and IG Design Group plc.
Wendy Colquhoun
Independent Non-Executive Director
Wendy is a qualified solicitor and was, until May 2020, a partner at international law firm CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP. She has advised investment trust boards for over 25 years on advisory and transactional matters and has a thorough understanding of investment trusts and the regulatory and other challenges they face. She is a non-executive director of Capital Gearing Trust p.l.c and Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund plc, and chair of Henderson Opportunities Trust plc.
Gregory Eckersley
Independent Non-Executive Director
Gregory is an experienced equity investor with a professional executive career in a mix of leadership and asset management roles. Having begun his investment career at Cigna International Investment Limited, he gained international experience at Draycott Partners, Alliance Capital and Alliance Bernstein, managing and overseeing teams investing in emerging market and global portfolios and, until 2019, was the global head of internal equities at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Alexandra Mackesy
Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
Alexandra is a former equity analyst, having spent the majority of her executive career in Asia with SBC Warburg, JP Morgan and Credit Suisse. She has some 19 years of experience as a director of UK listed investment trusts and is currently chair of JPMorgan China Growth & Income Trust plc and a non-executive director of The Henderson Smaller Companies Trust plc. She is also a director of Board Level Partners Ltd, which provides board advisory services.
Nicholas Melhuish
Independent Non-Executive Director
Nicholas joined Corpus Christi College, Oxford as Fellow and Bursar in 2018 following a portfolio management career most recently as Head of Global Equities at Amundi SA. He is a non executive director of JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust PLC, a trustee of the Trusthouse Charitable Foundation and a director and trustee of The London Clinic. He also lectures at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University on Asset Management.