Our Team
Amanda van Dyke
Investment Analyst
Amanda van Dyke is a mining equity specialist. She has been previously with the mining teams of GMP, Pareto, and Dundee Securities, as an analyst and mining specialist sales person. She is also the Chairman of Women in Mining UK, and a member of the advisory board of Mines and Money London. She has authored numerous research reports as well as articles on the mining sector. She is a professional gemmologist, and holds an MBA and MA in International Economics, from SDA Bocconi and China Europe International Business School.
Gavin Laidlaw
Investment Analyst
Gavin Laidlaw has been working in the stock market since 1987 and has witnessed many periods of market turbulence. He has working at stockbrokers SG, Laing and Cruickshank and Sheppard’s and Chase concentrating on the UK stock market. He is a UK stock picker, a skill built up over years of watching, reading and meeting PLCs on a regular basis.
Gavin has produced an investment review called Stockwatch for over a decade highlighting his investment ideas. A starting point for reviewing a stock is its ability to pay a dividend, the strength of the balance sheet, the management and future business prospects and all viewed alongside the current valuation. Additional stock picking ideas come from carefully watching for corporate news flow especially change management updates. Gavin is a member of the MCSI and went to the University of Aberdeen where he studied Scots law.
Rob Steele
Portfolio Administrator
Rob Steele is a Portfolio Administrator. He has over 20 years experience in the industry. Before EPIC he worked for Threadneedle Asset Management, which he joined from Zurich Investment Management. Previously he worked for an investment management company and a stockbroker which were both based in Edinburgh. Rob holds the UKSIP Investment Management Certificate.
Stephen Dowds
Senior Portfolio Manager
Before he joined Hume Capital, Stephen was head of Northern Trust Global Investors’ active International Equity group. Prior to this he was Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Dryden Capital Management (a division of Prudential-Bache International).
He has over 25 years of investment management experience, both as a portfolio manager and a business manager, running global/ European equity portfolios on behalf of a wide variety of clients including both institutional and retail funds.
A graduate of the University of St Andrew’s with an MA in Economics with International Studies, Stephen is also an Associate (ASIP) of the CFA UK.
Stephen Watson
Senior Portfolio Manager
A Senior Portfolio Manager with over 22 years experience, Stephen was responsible for pan-European and Eurozone accounts at Northern Trust whilst co-lead with Stephen Dowds on the International Growth Fund. Before that he was a Director at Framlington Investment Management where he was in charge of building-out the firm’s European funds, and from 1995, the emerging market funds in Eastern Europe, as well as winning numerous new client accounts. His specialist knowledge as a portfolio manager includes the industrials, energy, materials and oil sectors. Stephen has a BA Hons degree in Politics from Durham University.
Viji Thambyrajah
Operations Manager
Viji Thambyrajah has over 20 years of experience in investment administration. She joined EPIC from New Flag Asset Management. Viji previously worked at Kemper (Zurich) Investment Management. She holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Wales, Cardiff.
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