River and Mercantile (R&M) has promoted James Sym (pictured) to head of equities.
The manager of the ES River and Mercantile European fund joined the firm in 2020 from Schroders to set up its European equities franchise.
Based in London, Sym will continue to report to chief executive Alex Hoctor-Duncan. A spokesperson confirmed to Portfolio Adviser that ‘head of equities’ is a new role, which Sym will hold in addition to his fund management duties. He has not inherited any responsibilities previously held by co-founder and UK equities heavy-hitter Dan Hanbury, who left R&M in February.
His expanded role, which sees him tasked with “driving R&M’s equity products forward at a time when the investment landscape is changing and evolving”, comes into immediate effect.
Sym described it as “an exciting time at R&M” with “all bar one of our UK, European and Global Equity PVT funds [having] outperformed their respective benchmarks since launch, many significantly so”.
Hoctor-Duncan added: “As we look toward to the next stage of our journey as an integrated part of Assetco, I’m delighted that James will be steering our equities business forward. We want what we do to make a difference and James’s enthusiasm and passion, alongside that of the whole equities team, will be key drivers to this.”
See also: Alex Hoctor-Duncan splashes £500k on River and Mercantile stock
Deals and departures
Sym’s appointment follows a period of substantial change at River and Mercantile. Its acquisition by Martin Gilbert’s Assetco was touch-and-go for several months, as negotiations took a protracted turn.
Finally, a £100m all-share agreement was struck in January, contingent on the sale of R&M’s Solutions business to Schroders. However, with the ink possibly still drying on that deal, Hanbury announced his resignation.
He has since returned to his previous employer Ninety One – which was known as Investec during his tenure.
As one of R&M’s heavy hitters, his exit prompted a message of support for the business from Assetco, which described Hanbury’s departure as par for the course.
His ES River and Mercantile UK Equity Income fund was handed to Schroders’ alum Matt Hudson, who joined R&M’s equity income team in March.
See also: Square Mile ejects River and Mercantile fund following Dan Hanbury resignation
