Somerset Capital members divvy £25m windfall

Somerset Capital Management, the emerging markets boutique manager co-founded by Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, has paid out £25.3m to members in its partnership.

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Revenues at the company grew to £45.7m in 2018, according to financial statements published on Companies House. The figures were up 30% from £35m in the previous financial year, although growth had slowed from 42% in 2017.

The partnership paid out £25.3m in profits in June 2018, the filing noted. The figure was up slightly from £21.9m in 2017. Operating profit for the period had increased to £34.1m over the period compared to £27.8m in the previous year.

It did not state how much went to Rees-Mogg (pictured), the pro-Brexit backbencher MP who co-founded the firm in 2007 with Edward Robertson and Dominic Johnson.

He holds over 15% of issued share capital and received £14,922.82 for 30 hours work at the firm in June, according to the register of MPs’ financial interests. The register also reveals a £5,000 donation from fellow Brexit-supporting fund manager Crispin Odey.

Somerset Capital’s largest entitlement to profit paid to a member was £2.5m up from £1m in 2017.

Rees-Mogg is not listed as an executive at the boutique manager, but Robertson is a lead manager of the Global Emerging Markets and Mid Cap products and Johnson is chief executive of the firm. The trio previously worked together at Lloyd George Management.

The LLP includes seven corporate members, the same number as the previous year, while membership among office and management staff has increased by one over the period to 14, taking the total number of members to 21.

Member remuneration totalled £8.9m in 2018 compared to £6m in 2017.

The company manages $8.4bn (£6.4bn), according to its website. In July, it launched the Somerset Frontier Markets fund, which is lead managed by George Birch Reynardson with support from Mark Asquith and senior analyst Kumar Pandit.

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