Meet the team

Charles Luke is a Senior Investment Director on the UK and European equities team having joined the company in 2000. Charles started his career at Framlington Investment Management in 1998, covering UK equities.

Charles graduated with a BA in Economics and Japanese Studies from Leeds University and an MSc in Business and Economic History from the London School of Economics.

Jane Pearce had an executive career as an Equity Analyst at leading investment banks and latterly was an Equity Strategist at Lehman Brothers and Nomura International. She is a Chartered Accountant and was a member of the Governing Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland from 1999-2000. She is a non-executive director of four UK subsidiaries of Morgan Stanley and is also a non-executive director of Polar Capital Technology Trust plc. She is Chair of the Audit Committee.

Simon White has a background in UK equity fund management and significant experience in the investment trust sector. He joined BlackRock as Head of Investment Trusts in 2011 where he was responsible for overseeing the company secretarial, sales and marketing and third-party administration services. He was also involved in successful fundraisings and significant secondary issuance within the investment trust business. He retired from BlackRock in June 2022. Prior to joining BlackRock, Simon White worked at Kleinwort Benson and was responsible for the development of Kleinwort Benson’s (and its successor companies including Allianz Global Investors) closed end fund businesses. He is currently a Senior Adviser to Cadarn Capital, an independent distribution and investor relations company servicing London-listed investment companies.