Investment Advisor/Portfolio Manager.

Peter has thirty years of investment experience, stretching back to when he started buying shares soon after he left school. Risking his own hard-earned cash gave him just the incentive he needed to find out about the world of investment, so he avidly began to read and learn more about it. Shortly after receiving his first dividend cheques and Annual Reports, he was hooked, and decided that a career involving stocks and shares was for him.

Moving to London to pursue his ambition, Peter gained a comprehensive knowledge of the administrative side of investing whilst at stockbroker Quilter Goodison, before moving to the investment management division of Phillips and Drew. Working within a larger firm gave him the opportunity to develop both his analytical capabilities and portfolio management skills, where he specialised in advising smaller company pension schemes and wealthy private clients.

After a career break during which he undertook an honours degree in Geography as a mature student, Peter rejoined the investment world in a fund management role at Teachers Assurance. There he focused on small and mid cap stock selection across a number of funds whilst also being responsible for the fund management of two unit trusts, including a dedicated SRI/ethical fund.

His 12 year tenure as manager of the Sovereign Ethical Fund was underscored by a marked turnaround in investment returns. Despite strict ethical criteria which severely restricted its available investment universe, the fund went on to win several awards for its performance during that period, managing to exceed the returns available on the FTSE All Share Index. This went some way to undermining the popular misconception that ‘being green’ or ‘investing responsibly’ entailed a performance penalty. As a result, Peter attracted a considerable following amongst his peers in the investment community, with the Ethical Fund becoming a core holding amongst other managers who had an ethical/green mandate. A good long term investment record translated into continued retail and institutional support for the fund, which attracted over £40 million of net new money, increasing its assets sevenfold.