Director talk: Sarah Arkle
Sarah is chair of Vietnam Enterprise Investments.
In the boardroom
How would you explain your role to somebody who was new to investment trusts?
The role of an independent investment trust board is to act on behalf of shareholders to ensure the fund’s mandate is being properly followed, in terms of things like the investment process and risk parameters.
The board also monitors the performance and the activities of the investment manager (such as marketing and PR) as well as the fees they charge. The board can, if necessary, move the mandate to another asset management company.
What is the number one skill you bring to the board?
My time working as an investment manager is helpful in challenging the positions and activities of the fund manager. Having been a Chief Investment Officer (CIO) as well as being involved in the fund selection process at various endowments and pension funds, I have more years of experience than I would care to mention in analysing an investment process and monitoring a fund’s performance and risk profile.
Who’s being the biggest influence on your career?
When I started as a fund manager, my first CIOs were extremely influential in helping me to understand when to have the confidence to stick with a stock position when it is going wrong, and when to accept that my original premise had changed and I needed to cut my losses.
I remember a time when markets were falling, my first boss saying to me that if I was happy with my portfolio I shouldn’t fiddle around with my positions, and that I would be better off spending the afternoon on the golf course!
“On a recent family holiday to Antigua we bopped to a steel band playing Hot Hot Hot at Shirley Heights…”
Sarah Arkle, chair of Vietnam Enterprise Investments
What’s the most challenging part of your job as a trust director?
The general widening of discounts across the whole investment trust sector, which has persisted for quite some time, has created a number of challenges. I would like to feel that the extent of the widening of discounts is not justified, and that when we look back on this period we will see it as an anomaly which presented some interesting buying opportunities.
What advice would you offer to new directors?
I think it’s important to get the balance right between listening, being open-minded and being a team player, then challenging the consensus view or the fund manager when appropriate.
Away from work
What’s your number one Desert Island Disc?
Hot Hot Hot by Arrow. I am a great fan of calypso, having been to carnival in Trinidad in the 1980s. I saw Arrow live at the Royal Albert Hall’s concert to raise funds for Montserrat in 1997 following its devastating volcano eruption. On a recent family holiday to Antigua we bopped to a steel band playing Hot Hot Hot at Shirley Heights – a magnificent view overlooking English harbour whilst the sun set – amazing!
Of all the places you have visited on your travels, which comes top of the list and why?
Vietnam is an amazing place to visit and has a huge amount of variety from the hill tribes and stunning views trekking in Sapa, to the buzz and entrepreneurial spirit in Ho Chi Minh City with plenty of fun and historical places in between. The Vietnamese are very friendly and welcoming and there is good value, delicious food everywhere!
If you had to cook for a dinner party, what would you make?
I have people round for dinner to have a fun evening with my friends rather than spend all the time doing last-minute cooking. So raclette is my preferred dish – melted cheese cooked individually in the raclette machine with steak and quail eggs and any peppers or veggies cooked on top. Accompanied by baby potatoes, crudités, dips, charcuterie and a refreshing, crispy salad with a zesty dressing – you can eat as much or little as you like and chat for hours!
What are you terrible at?
Snooker – despite having a number of secret lessons at the Hurricane Rooms at Kings Cross with a very helpful guy who runs a company called Gone to Pot!
What do you do for fun?
Gardening and garden design – I have a small Japanese garden I love, even though it is higher maintenance than I had planned. Otherwise, playing the piano, horse riding, travelling.
Sarah was previously a non-exec director of F&C Investment Trust and was chair of JP Morgan Emerging Markets Investment Trust.
