According to Hugh Twiss, chairman of Invesco Income Growth Trust, Dampier’s wide knowledge of the investment trust world and his “practical involvement, through Hargreaves Lansdown, in the huge growth of unadvised investors over recent years” will greatly assist the trust’s board to make it as appealing and accessible as possible.
Asked if there is any conflict of interest in taking up the position while a director at Hargreaves Lansdown, Dampier told Portfolio Adviser that while there could, in theory, be one, in practice there is and would not in the future be one.
But, he added, the firm has put guidelines in place to ensure that that is the case.
And, he added: “Hargreaves hasn’t really got much involved in the investment trust sector outside of major IPOs such as the Woodford Patient Capital Trust, because there is generally very little liquidity.”
Asked why he had decided to take on the role, Dampier said, part of the reason was to see what the world looked like from the other side of the table.
He added: “Equity income is a favourite sector of mine and, given ageing demographics of the UK, will have an increasingly important role to play.”
