Deptford, who joined the firm in 2009, co-managed the £40.9m Smith & Williamson Enterprise Fund, £9.6m Smith & Williamson UK Equity Growth Trust and £8.3m Smith & Williamson UK Equity Income Trust.
Mark Boucher will return to the company later this month to become its head of UK equities and resume his previous role as co-manager on the Smith & Williamson Enterprise Fund alongside Rupert Fleming.
Boucher last co-managed the fund from April 2006 to February 2009, when it delivered a 51.4% return against a 36.7% fall in the FTSE All-Share Capital Return Index benchmark.
However, the portfolio underperformed after he left to run UK monies for a US multi-strategy hedge fund. It failed to beat its benchmark over the whole of 2009 as well as during 2010, 2011 and over the first 11 months of 2012.
Boucher will also take lead management responsibility on the Smith & Williamson UK Equity Growth Trust with support from Fleming. Mark Swain, the designated assistant fund manager of UK Equity Income Trust, will lead manage this portfolio for the foreseeable future.
Smith & Williamson said that Deptford has left the firm “as a result of these changes”.
David Cobb, the asset manager’s head of investment management and banking, said: “We are confident that this new structure for the UK equity team will put us in a much stronger position to mirror this success.
“Boucher is a very experienced fund manager with an excellent track record and this, combined with his knowledge and understanding of Smith & Williamson, makes him an important hire for us.”
