Three senior fund managers resign from Stewart Investors 

Update: Moving on after nearly three decades, David Gait is one of three senior managers to step down from positions at Stewart Investors.

Three of Stewart Investors’ most senior fund managers have announced resignations, including Pacific Assets Trust (PAC ) co-manager David Gait. 

Gait steps down after nearly three decades with Stewart Investors, the Edinburgh-based sustainable investment arm of Australia’s First Sentier Investors. 

He joined the team as a graduate in 1997 and progressed to lead manager of its Asia Pacific Leaders and Asia Pacific All Cap Strategies. 

This includes Stewart Investors’ £420m Pacific Assets investment trust, which he has managed for fifteen years, and its £5.7bn Asia Pacific Leaders fund, co-managed since 2016. He was also a member of the Stewart Investors board.

Sashi Reddy and Sujaya Desai are also moving on. 

Reddy joined the team in 2007 and has worked alongside Gait on the Leaders fund for the past nine years, as well as heading up the Indian Subcontinent All Cap strategy. Desai joined more recently, working her way up to lead manager of the Global Emerging Markets All Cap strategy in 2023. 

A spokesperson for the company said: ‘A comprehensive transition plan is in place to address the changes and ensure portfolio management continuity.’

The PAC investment trust, which made the announcement, said Jack Nelson had been appointed as its new co-portfolio manager, to support Douglas Ledingham who will retain his position as lead. 

Nelson joined Stewart Investors in 2011 and has been a senior investor on various Global Emerging Markets strategies, including lead and co-portfolio manager roles across the All Cap and Leaders funds.

The trust, which invests in the Asia Pacific region and Indian Subcontinent, with 35% in India as of July, has suffered from underperformance in recent years. 

According to data from Deutsche Numis, PAC is down on the MSCI AC Asia Pacific-ex Japan index over one and three years, as well as year to date.

On the longer three-year view, shareholders in 1.4%-yielding Pacific Assets, which trades on a 10% discount, are up 7.1% versus 19.3% for the benchmark.