Who We Are

IIMI Board

Founded in 20101 , the IIMI counts amongst its 40 members some of the world’s leading specialist asset management firms, overseeing c. $500bn in client assets and representing c. 2,000 members of staff.

Over the past two decades, as the financial services industry has been dominated by global giants, an increasing appreciation of a traditional ‘client-centric’ approach has enabled entrepreneurial firms in the UK and beyond to emerge as a growing competitive force. The IIMI offers these firms an expert voice in the debate over best practice and the future of financial regulation, with the aim of building a better future for smaller and independent asset managers that prioritise specialism over scale in delivering the best results to clients.

Now, more so than ever, entrepreneurial boutiques play a key role in the growth of innovative and competitive investment solutions, to the benefit of consumers and society at large.

1 Originally incorporated as the New City Initiative, the IIMI rebranded in 2021.

Dani Hristova, Chief Executive Officer

Dani Hristova became Chief Executive Officer of IIMI in May 2023. Dani started her career in financial services in 2015 at Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) within the defined benefit pension scheme client team. Dani then moved on to Schroders Investment Management where she was responsible for some of the firm’s largest pension scheme clients including the in-house scheme before moving into the insurance business development team. Most recently, Dani has worked for Nordea Asset Management where she was responsible for building the firm’s presence in the UK insurance market. Dani graduated from the University of Exeter with a BSc in Psychology and holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing.

Sebastian Stewart, Chairman

Sebastian became Chairman of the IIMI in 2022 having been Deputy Chair since 2017. He is a Partner and Head of Client Services at Somerset Capital Management LLP, an Emerging Market Equity boutique which he helped grow from $1.8bn to over $10bn in AUM. Sebastian graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a First Class degree in Mathematics and Business Studies, is a CFA charterholder and holds an Executive MBA from Bayes Business School.

Rose Beale

Vice Chair and Responsible Investment Lead, Findlay Park Partners LLP

Rose Beale joined Findlay Park in 2019 as Responsible Investment Lead. Prior to joining Findlay Park, Rose was an ESG Analyst in the Responsible Investment team at Columbia Threadneedle. Rose started her career at BlackRock in 2014.

Charlotte Yonge

Fund Manager, Troy Asset Management

Charlotte is the Assistant Fund Manager of the Trojan Fund and Personal Assets Trust and Fund Manager of the Trojan Ethical Fund, with responsibility for multi-asset coverage and the analysis of global companies and their selection for Troy’s portfolios.

Charlotte joined Troy in 2013 from Ruffer Investment Management, where she worked as an Investment Associate. Graduating from Cambridge with an MA in Modern Languages, Charlotte holds the CISI Diploma and is a CFA Charterholder.

Dan Brocklebank

Head of UK, Orbis Investments

Dan is UK Head at Orbis Investments. Prior to this role, Dan spent 15 years as part of Orbis’ investment team covering autos, industrial stocks and the energy sector as well as building out the global sector research team. Dan is a CFA Charterholder, Chartered Accountant and graduate of Brasenose College, Oxford where he studied PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics).

Nicole Harrington

COO, Evenlode Investment Management

Nicole joined Evenlode in 2016 and is Evenlode’s Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Evenlode she was Head of Investment Management Operations with private bankers Arbuthnot Latham. Previously she was the Asset Services Manager at Legal and General Investment Management, and the Reconciliations Manager at Gartmore Fund Managers.

Nicole brings over thirty years of experience in both retail banking and investment management to Evenlode.

Edward Guinness

Chief Executive, Guinness Asset Management

Edward is Chief Executive of Guinness Global Investors and a fund manager in the Guinness EIS Team. Edward joined Guinness in 2006. Prior to Guinness, Edward worked from 2002 as a merger arbitrage analyst for the Arbitrage Associates Fund at the Tiedemann Investment Group in New York. In 1998 he joined HSBC Investment Bank, where he worked in the Corporate Finance Department in the Energy & Utilities Team and in the Telecoms & Technology Team. Edward graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Master’s degree in Engineering and Management Studies.

Philip Reed

General Counsel, Independent Franchise Partners

Philip is General Counsel of Independent Franchise Partners LLP, an independent institutional-only asset manager based in London. Franchise Partners offers a specialist, differentiated equities strategy, focused on delivering sustainable long-term investment returns through segregated mandates and a range of pooled vehicles. 

Previously Philip has experience as General Counsel of Threadneedle, a major UK-based, US-owned, retail and institutional asset manager with global responsibility for the firm’s legal affairs and regulatory relationships through the credit crisis and its aftermath. Philip was also a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Department at Norton Rose with a practice concentrating on hedge funds, banking, asset finance and financial services disputes. Philip studied jurisprudence at the University of Oxford. 

Helme Harrison

CEO, Tellworth Investments

Helme joined Tellworth Investments in November 2020. Prior to this, she spent 2 years at BennBridge, where she was responsible for building and maintaining client relationships across the UK and Europe. Helme has 10 years’ experience in financial services, including roles at JO Hambro Capital Management, BNY Mellon Investment Management and Blackrock (iShares).

Helme graduated from the University of Bristol with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Sondre Myge

Head of ESG, SKAGEN Funds

Sondre is Head of ESG in SKAGEN Funds and is part of SKAGENs Portfolio Department. Sondre holds an MA (Honors) in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in Political Economy of Europe from the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

James Foster

Chief Operating Officer, Latitude Investment Management

James joined Latitude Investment Management in 2021 as Chief Operating Officer. James has 18 years of experience in the Asset Management industry, with a primary focus on fund operations.

Prior to joining Latitude James was Head of Operations at Albert Bridge Capital. Prior to that James was responsible for the operations of multiple vehicles at Valiance Asset Management


The Board is supported and advised by:

Algernon Percy

Managing Director, Waverton Investment Management Limited

Algernon Percy graduated from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1990 with a degree in History.   He has since written a book about the Crimean War.  He worked in the Private Client department of Mercury Asset Management (later Merrill Lynch Investment Managers) for nine years, before joining Waverton (then J O Hambro Investment Management) in 2003. He became Head of Private Clients, and then in 2013 was appointed Managing Director.  He manages the Waverton Portfolio Fund.

Simon Pryke

CEO, Findlay Park Partners LLP

Simon has been CEO of Findlay Park since 2016. He is a member of the American Fund Investment Committee. Previously, Simon spent nineteen years at Newton Investment Management, initially as a global banks analyst, then as Head of Global Research, Head of Private Clients and Charities and, finally, as Chief Investment Officer.

Susannah De Jager

Independent Consultant

Susannah was Deputy Chairman of IIMI between 2016 and 2021. She has over eleven years of industry experience and is now an independent consultant. Prior to this, she was COO and later CEO of S. W. Mitchell Capital, a European equities boutique. Susannah started her career in 2008 at Citywire Financial Publishers where she was responsible for the commercial aspects of their UK fund manager ratings business and external research. Susannah has a degree in Politics from the University of Edinburgh.