City Lon Inv Regulatory News (CLIG)

22 Apr 2009 07:00



22 April 2009

CITY OF LONDON INVESTMENT GROUP PLC

("City of London" or "the Company")

EQUITIES TEAM STRENGTHENED WITH ADDITION OF SALLY MACDONALD

PLANNED LAUNCH OF NEW EMERGING ASIA, EX-JAPAN, FUND

City of London Investment Group PLC (AIM: CLIG), a leading emerging market asset management group, announces that its operating subsidiary, City of London Investment Management Limited ("CLIM"), has strengthened its equities team with the addition of Sally Macdonald. Sally most recently launched and ran the Melchior Pan-Asian Advantage Fund at Dalton Strategic Partnership LLP. Prior to this she was at Morley Fund Management, responsible for the Asian equity team which managed over US$6 billion of assets. Previous assignments include Canada Life (where, after over six years there, Sally was nominated for Citywire Asian Fund Manager of the Year for 2003) and Lazard Asset Management. Sally's career spans in excess of twenty years, of which seventeen have been focused on Asian equities. 

CLIM is taking advantage of the present downturn in markets worldwide to recruit experienced people and as a result of Sally's arrival will launch a new fund focused on the Emerging Asia ex Japan region on 1st July. The new fund, which will be called Asia Value & Growth, will form a new sub fund of The World Markets Umbrella Fund (WMUF), a Dublin listed open ended investment company, and Sally will be the designated fund manager. 

CLIM is a leading manager in emerging markets equities using closed end funds. The firm has also had a long term commitment to Emerging Market direct equities and the launch of Asia Value & Growth is an important development in this strategy. After a record has been developed (in two or three years) it would be the intention to market an equivalent Asia Value & Growth product to the Company's existing and potential institutional North American investors.

Barry Olliff, City of London's CEO and CLIM's Chief Investment Officer commented ''We are pleased to have hired such an experienced and talented fund manager as Sally Macdonald to manage Asia Value & Growth; she is an important addition to our well established equities team run by Martin Garzaron. We believe that there are exciting opportunities in the emerging Asian markets as a result of their stronger economic fundamentals. The timing is good as we also believe that the recent turmoil in equity markets has presented us with a rare entry opportunity''

Sally Macdonald added: "City of London has a fantastic long term performance record and an excellent reputation for producing steady performance in Emerging Markets. I feel that the fit is really good in all respects, from process to fund structure and I look forward to building a strong Asian fund here."

For further information please visit www.citlon.co.uk or contact:

Notes to editors:

City of London Investment Management Company Limited (CLIM) is wholly owned by City of London Investment Group PLC (AIM: CLIG), a company established in England and Wales and listed in London. CLIM is a leading emerging markets asset manager with US$2.2 billion of funds under management at 27th February 2009 and has offices in the UK, US, Singapore and Dubai. 

Barry Olliff is City of London's Chief Executive and Chief Investment officer. Barry's career has spanned over 40 years within the investment trust sector. He began his career as a market maker in 1964 with Denny Brothers and moved to Laing & Cruikshank in 1979, becoming a director in 1984. In 1987 he established Olliff & Partners, the stockbroker business from which City of London was founded in the early 1990s. 

The World Markets Umbrella Company PLC (WMUF) is an Irish domiciled UCITS fund authorised by the Irish Financial Regulator. The administrator of WMUF is BNY Mellon Fund Services (Ireland) Limited and the registered office is 2nd Floor, Guild House, Guild Street, IFSC, Dublin 1. CLIM is the Investment Manager for WMUF and as such is registered with the Irish Financial Regulator. 

Disclaimer:

This announcement is issued by City of London Investment Management Company Limited (CLIM), which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the FSA, registered as an Investment Adviser with the US SEC and regulated in Dubai by the DFSA. Registered office: 77 Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 0AS. Registered in England and Wales No. 2851236. VAT No. 629 6908 93. Website: www.citlon.co.uk 

This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer to issue or sell, or any solicitation of any offer to subscribe or purchase any shares or any other interests nor shall it or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract thereof. This announcement is not directed at you if you are not a journalist or press officer, or if we are prohibited by any law of any jurisdiction from making the information in this announcement available to you. Recipients of this announcement who intend to apply for shares or interests in the Fund(s) are reminded that any such application may be made solely on the basis of the information contained in the Prospectus or other offering document relating thereto, as and when they become available, which may be different from the information contained in this announcement. Please refer to the relevant Prospectus or other offering document.

Any research, analysis or views included in this announcement have been produced by CLIM in relation to its investment activities and should not be relied upon for any personal use. Any opinions expressed herein are made at the time of publication and may change without notice.

All data and statistics are sourced from CLIM unless otherwise stated. Any performance statistics are not necessarily based on audited financial information. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future returns.