The board of Merian Chrysalis Investment Trust has announced one of its co-managers is taking a period of leave.
A statement issued from the board said Nick Williamson (pictured) is “taking a short period of leave for family reasons” and is expected to return to his role at the end of September 2019.
The trust will continue to be run by co-manager Richard Watts in Williamson’s absence, it added.
Williamson is also lead manager on the £370m Merian UK Smaller Companies Focus fund.
A Merian spokesperson told Portfolio Adviser that the fund’s deputy manager Dan Nickols will take on lead manager duties. Nickols was lead manager on the fund before Williamson took over in 2016.
They added: “Our UK Smid desk utilises a team-based approach, so Dan and Richard will continue to work with the wider team in Nick’s absence.”
Williamson joined the UK equities team at Merian’s predecessor Old Mutual Global Investors in 2008 and has worked across sectors. Before that, he was sell-side analyst, most recently at Citigroup.
The Merian Chrysalis trust launched in November 2018, raising £100m but falling short of its £200m target. However, the trust raised an additional £100m from a second round of fundraising in April.
