Mark Atherton is a Money Reporter at The Times. He has worked on the Money section at The Times for the past 10 years, covering all personal finance topics but with a special interest in investment-related stories.
Before joining The Times he was Personal Finance Correspondent for the Press Association. Prior to that Mark was the Business Editor and Personal Finance Correspondent for the South London Press.
He has been interested in investment since his schooldays and made his first fund purchase at the age of 19.
Annabel Brodie-Smith is Communications Director at The Association of Investment Companies (AIC). Her role is varied but focuses on communicating the uses and benefits of investment companies to the media, opinion formers and private investors and she is responsible for the AIC’s publications. Annabel is managing the AIC’s response to the Retail Distribution Review. Annabel is on the board of pfeg (the Personal Finance Education Group), the registered charity whose goal is to promote and facilitate the education of all UK school pupils about financial matters.
After obtaining a B.A in Geography from LSE/King’s College, and an M.A from Syracuse University in the New York, Annabel went on to obtain a postgraduate diploma in public and media relations from the University of Wales. She then spent a year at Hill & Knowlton, where her work included working on the winning Athens 2004 Olympic bid, before joining the AIC in November 1997.
James Ilsley, managing director, is a portfolio manager in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management European Equity Group. He specialises in managing institutional and charitable portfolios. An employee since 1999, James was previously a UK equity portfolio manager and director with Prudential Portfolio Managers (UK) Ltd. James obtained an M.Eng in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering from London University.
Stephen joined Charles Stanley in July 2007, and is responsible for all Investment Trust and closed ended fund research. He previously worked at Hewitt Associates, the investment consultant, for four and a half years as a senior manager researcher. Prior to this he worked for a large fee based private client financial advisory firm for two years. Stephen was awarded the CFA designation in the summer of 2007. Stephen has a BSc in Psychology from the University of Essex.
Bruce Stout is a senior investment manager on the Global equities team. Bruce joined Aberdeen* in 1987 and has held a number of roles including investment manager on the emerging markets team.
Bruce graduated with a BA in Economics from the University of Strathclyde and completed a graduate training course with General Electric Company UK.
Brian Tora’s long career in the investment industry has seen him hold many senior positions in a variety of firms, the most recent being that of Investment Communications Director of Gerrard Investment Management Limited, part of Barclays Wealth and one of the largest firms serving the Private Client market in the UK. This position made him the principal investment spokesman of the firm and today he continues to advise a number of organisations on investment communications and marketing issues. In the past he has served on the boards of both investment trusts and unit trust management companies and is a much sought after writer on financial matters, with columns in a wide variety of publications. He is also a regular broadcaster on radio and television.
Sarah Emly, executive director, is a portfolio manager within the J.P. Morgan Asset Management European Equity Group. She specialises in managing UK institutional portfolios and investment trusts. An employee since 1995, Sarah was previously an analyst in the UK and pan-Europe team before joining the portfolio management team in 1999. She holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in International Management and Modern Languages (French) from the University of Bath, and the Securities Institute Diploma, and is a Fellow of the Securities Institute. Sarah is a CFA charter holder.