Our People

Edward is the Lead Manager of the Global EM and Mid Cap products and manages the investment team. He worked in Hong Kong and London before joining Lloyd George Management in 1999 where, along with Jacob Rees-Mogg, he built the Emerging Market products. He also ran the top performing Russian Fund – SIBINCo. He co-founded Somerset Capital in April 2007. Edward graduated from the University of East Anglia.

Anthony joined Somerset in 2013. He has fifteen years’ experience of investing in emerging markets, having worked as a fund manager and analyst at F&C Asset Management where he managed a range of Asian equity portfolios for institutional clients. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh where he read Economics & Politics, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Dhawal joined Somerset in September 2014 as a Senior Analyst covering India in our Singapore office. He has 15 years’ experience in investing in emerging markets, most recently as manager of the Indian Equity Growth Fund at Reliance Asset Management. He graduated from Mumbai University, where he read Mathematics, and is a CFA Charterholder. He has also completed a PGDM in Finance, and is a graduate of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

Christopher joined Somerset as an analyst covering EMEA in August 2016, having completed an MBA from Columbia Business School and graduated from the school’s Value Investing Program. He previously worked in investment banking for Goldman Sachs in London. Christopher graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford in 2010, where he read Classics.

Mark joined Somerset in 2007. Previously he worked at Lloyd George Management, where he was instrumental in helping to build the smaller companies product along with Edward Robertson and Jacob Rees-Mogg. He also had a focus on Latin America. Mark graduated from St Andrew’s University prior to joining Lloyd George.

Mark Williams is Co-Manager of the EM Dividend Growth and Asia Income Strategies. He joined Somerset Capital in 2020 from Liontrust Investment Partners where he was Head of Asia Pacific Equities and Co-Manager of the Liontrust Asia Income Fund, which he launched with Carolyn Chan and Shashank Savla in 2012. Prior to Liontrust he specialised in Asian Equity mandates at Occam and F&C where he ran the flagship Asia Pacific Growth Funds. Mark has over 27 years’ portfolio management experience.

Kumar Pandit is a partner at Somerset Capital and Co-Manager of the EM Dividend Growth Strategy. He joined Somerset Capital in January 2011 (our very first external hire for the investment team) and has expertise across global emerging markets with a particular emphasis on EMEA, Frontier Markets and Latin America. Kumar graduated from Kingston University where he read Computer Science and Business Studies and is a CFA Charterholder.

Carolyn Chan joined Somerset Capital in 2020 as Co-Manager of the Asia Income Strategy. She started her career in 1992 with WI Carr Securities and spent 18 years in Asian equity sales at ING Barings, Citigroup and Daiwa Securities. Carolyn moved over to the buy-side in 2010 with Hampton Investment Management, before joining Liontrust in 2012 to launch the Asia Income Fund with Mark Williams.

Min Chen is Portfolio Manager of the China Strategy, having joined Somerset in November 2020. He has extensive portfolio management and research experience in China, having previously managed the long-only China equities Strategy at Dymon Asia and the China portion of the GEM account at RWC Partners. He has also previously been in charge of China research at Everest Capital and Arisaig Partners since 2006. Min has completed an MBA at Yale in 2006, and is a participant of Executive MBA programme at Tsinghua PBC School of Finance.

Mark Lawrence joined Somerset Capital as Head of Research in July 2021. He joins from T Rowe Price where he was responsible for stock coverage across EME, ESG evaluation and engagements.  Mark has over 20 years of equity research experience, having also been the co-manager of a $200m European Equity Long-Short portfolio at Citi. Prior to this he was European Portfolio Manager from 2002-2007 at Alliance Bernstein. Mark is a CFA charterholder and holds a BSc from University of Bath.

Vijai received an MBA from INSEAD, France, in 2018 and graduated from Duke University, USA, in 2011 where he read international relations and economics. He works as an Analyst in the London office.

Kay joined Somerset in March 2019, and works as a Data Analyst in the Investment team. She graduated from Brunel University in 2005 with a First Class degree in Computer Science.

Ariadne joined Somerset in July 2015 via our internship programme and currently works as a Senior Analyst. Ariadne graduated from CASS Business School in 2015 with an MSc in Investment Management, and previously graduated from the London School of Economics.

Thomas graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2008 where he read Natural Sciences. He has 6 years’ experience in consulting in the technology and financial services sectors. He joined the Investment team in September 2015.

Scott joined Somerset in 2019 as a Senior Analyst on Asia from our Singapore Office. He has ten years’ experience investing in emerging markets, having previously worked as a senior analyst at Ivaldi Capital and Artha Capital covering TMT and North Asia. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where he read Systems Engineering.

Shashank Savla is Senior Analyst with over 16 years’ experience in financial markets. Shashank started as a research analyst at J.P. Morgan in 2004 covering the Equity Strategy and Consumer sectors. He then joined Mark Williams at Occam in 2010 and transferred to Liontrust Asset Management in 2011. Shashank holds a postgraduate diploma in Management (MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and is a CFA Charterholder.

Lilian Tai joined Somerset in November 2020 as a China analyst. She has been focused on China research since 2011, having most recently worked with Min Chen at Dymon Asia where she focused on bottom up ESG analysis of Chinese equities. She graduated from the University of Southampton where she read Mathematics with Actuarial Science. She is fluent in Mandarin, English and Malay and is a CFA charter holder.

Jamie is a Senior Analyst, focusing on China retail, advanced manufacturing and SOEs. She is based in our Shanghai office and is a CFA Charterholder. Jamie has 11 years' experience working in long only funds, including 7 years working alongside Min Chen.