Top 50 Movers & Shakers

Growth Company Investor reveals its definitive annual list of the most important people in the growth company sector

1. Adam McConkey ▲
Short-termism is not a charge that can be laid at the door of Adam McConkey, key fund manager at Henderson Global, who joined the group in 2011 from Gartmore. He is known for his view that ‘conviction stocks’ can often pay off in the long run and has argued against spreading the investment net too wide: ‘Historically, the smaller the collection of companies you invest in, the greater the return.’ McConkey replaced Gervais Williams last year at the head of Henderson’s smaller companies fund, bringing much-needed energy and focus after a period of change.

2. Sam Smith ▲
Of the legions of brokers on AIM, only one is run by a woman, and it’s a fair bet that swathes of the male-dominated industry wish they were working for her. While rivals have been shutting up shop, downsizing or selling themselves for a song, Smith’s finnCap has been thriving. Client wins have been robust, fundraisings are being completed at a rate of two per month and cash is building up on the balance sheet. And the blonde workaholic’s reaction to the news that her company had become the leading broker on AIM? ‘Well, it’s a good start isn’t it.’

3. Phillip Wale ▲
Phillip Wale, CEO since March of entrepreneurial broking house Seymour Pierce, is adding a new dimension to a firm hitherto noted for its corporate deal-doing and its links to football clubs. He brings experience in the fast lane, both as an enthusiastic biker and (more importantly) as a former stalwart of Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. His background with US-owned investment banks means that he delivers a wide knowledge of wholesale trading and sales to Seymour Pierce. 

4. Oliver Hemsley ▲
Hemsley is the founder and head honcho at robust investment bank Numis. From small beginnings, Numis has pushed its way up the broker rankings and is now a force to be reckoned with – particularly in the mid-cap space. Cash rich, the City firm is 50 per cent owned by its band of 180 staff. Born in Rutland, Hemsley is the son of a pig farmer and puts his irrepressible style down to keeping fit. He loves running, but recently took his outdoor pursuits one step further by learning to kite-surf on Richard Branson’s Necker Island.

5. Simon Melling ▼
Melling would have probably topped our list again this year, except that he is now the outgoing chief executive of money-raising machine Cenkos. His replacement has yet to be announced, but whoever takes over, they will inherit a formidable operation. In the year to October, Cenkos raised just over £700 million for its clients. Recession – what recession? Melling’s plan for the moment is just to take a little time out.

6. Mark Brown ▲
Previously the head of Arbuthnot Securities (and prior to that the kingpin at ABN AMRO Equities), Brown holds the chief executive reins at mid-market heavyweight Collins Stewart Hawkpoint, a position he’s been ensconced in since 2008. In that time he has overseen the acquisitions of Andersen Charnley and Corazon Capital, maintained his firm’s sturdy market and trading position, and husbanded the cash rather well – CSH had around £70 million on its balance sheet at the last count.

7. Gerry Beaney/Philip Secrett ▲
This dynamic duo preside over the capital markets team at Grant Thornton, the sixth-largest nomad on AIM and the dominant accountant by some margin (roughly one in six AIM companies retain GT as their auditor). The professional effervescence and consummate networking of both are likely to ensure that their company retains this commanding position. Beaney, a Scottish chartered accountant by training, heads the team. Among Secrett’s extra-curricular duties is his role as chair of the London Stock Exchange AIM Advisory Committee.

8. Giles Hargreave ▲
City veteran Hargreave has had a long stint in the industry, having started his career in 1969 at stockbroking firm James Capel as an analyst before later joining family business Hargreave Hale as a partner. Currently the CEO and chairman of the expansive broker, he helped steer the group into fund management, personally running the Marlborough Special Situations Fund. In addition to his financial expertise, Hargreave is known for his love of playing bridge. 

9. Simon Hayes ▲
Quietly confident, exacting and painstakingly meticulous, Hayes exhibits all the skills necessary to steer his broking house successfully through the current markets. Part of the Durham University alumni currently colonising key areas of the City, Hayes led the £75 million buy-out of Peel Hunt in 2010 and hasn’t really looked back – his firm is the number two in the Thomson Reuters list of leading small- and mid-cap brokers – and dominates the healthcare, financial, consumer goods and real estate sectors. 

10. Paul Marriage ▲
Fitness fanatic Marriage is manager of the Cazenove UK Smaller Companies Fund, one of the stellar performers over the past three years having returned 116.4 per cent. Known for not adopting a particular investment style (just good companies), the Oxford grad joined Cazenove in 2005. Previous roles have included a stint as the head of UK small-cap investments at Insight Investment and a period as an analyst at GH Asset Management.

11. Gervais Williams ▲
Managing director of MAM Funds (funds under management £1.7 billion), Gervais Williams made his name as a discerning picker of smaller companies at the once-mighty Gartmore, which he left in 2010 amid a general collapse of morale. In a yield-hungry market he now targets a 4.5 per cent income, up to two-thirds of it from smaller companies, where he argues that lack of institutional scrutiny and understanding leaves abundant opportunities. Distancing himself from the herd, Williams argues that investors should stick to companies close to home that are capable of achieving organic growth in their own markets and paying dividends.

12. Mark Watts ▲
Ex-management consultant Watts manages Marwyn Value Investors, a fund that has wowed the sector over the past three years having produced an impressive 290 per cent return. This performance was due to its investment in Entertainment One, the media group behind children’s TV favourite Peppa Pig and the film version of vampire romance series Twilight, with 68 per cent of the fund’s assets in the company. 

13. Marcus Stuttard ▲
A veteran at the London Stock Exchange, the classic car enthusiast joined the group in 1994 as a regulatory adviser, helping with the creation of AIM. He became deputy head of AIM in 2006 before taking the top job in 2009. Also a director at Tokyo AIM, the joint venture between the London and Tokyo Stock Exchanges, he has held the role at a difficult time, during which the number of new issues has declined, overseas investment has slipped and the exchange itself became the target of protesters. 

14. Chris Hutchinson ▲
Nestled in the tranquil, medieval cloisters of the Charterhouse is Unicorn Asset Management, home of affable fund manager Hutchinson. Launched ten years ago, his £60 million VCT is now the largest focused on AIM. Over this ten-year period, it has delivered impressive returns to its canny investors; including over £23 million in tax-free dividend distributions. Tennis-loving Hutchinson originally served in the Fleet Air Arm as a pilot officer, learning to fly both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. 

15. Chilton Taylor ▲
It’s not for nothing that Baker Tilly’s head of capital markets is affectionately known as ‘Mr AIM’. He’s worked on countless successful IPOs, mergers, acquisitions, divestments and capital injections over the past 25 years – and he knows a thing or two about tax efficiency to boot. Like all great elder statesmen of the small-cap scene, he’s something of a bon viveur. He also once played a bit of cricket for some university in 

16. Ralph Cox ▼
Previously co-manager with Richard Plackett, Cox assumed sole responsibility for the BlackRock UK Smaller Companies fund last year. His youthful appearance belies his industry experience, although the success he has racked up through the years have greatly assisted his health and happiness. Cox is known to favour companies in areas that exhibit strong barriers to entry and that have ‘experienced management teams’. 

17. Paul Compton ▲
Chelsea supporter Compton has wasted little time in shaking up the fortunes of stockbroker WH Ireland. Dating back to 1872, the small-cap specialist had lost its way, but under the stewardship of chief executive Compton, it is now back in the black. When not running marathons, the accomplished pianist likes to collect classic British cars. And not even Terry Smith would dare pick a fight with him – Compton is one of the few white-collar boxers to have actually fought at Bethnal Green.

18. Nick Robertson ▲
Multi-millionaire Robertson is the co-founder of the hugely successful online retailer ASOS. Stocking more than 50,000 items, the website attracts over 13.6 million visitors a month, and has been growing at a breakneck pace – particularly overseas. The shares have soared from 5p to the current price of £14, valuing the Camden-based business at a cool £1 billion. Chelsea fan Robertson recently picked up the gong of ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the AIM Awards. 

19. Christopher Mills ▲
Veteran activist investor Christopher Mills is not letting the £61 million he received from selling out of JO Hambro Capital Management blunt his appetite for new bargains. Indeed, he’s already deep into his next deal. Mills, whose past targets have included product tester Celsis International and computer consultant Compel, has teamed up with Norwegian industrialist Kristian Siem to bid £32 million for GTL Resources through a private vehicle, Sinav.  

20. Andrew Masraf ▲
The head of corporate and tax at law firm Pinsent Masons, the private equity specialist has had a busy year, with Pinsent involved in a number of deals including the recent tender offer for car competition concern Best of the Best by broker Charles Stanley and the acquisition of technology outfit DigiPoS Store Solutions by investment vehicle Better Capital. 

21. Frank Scolaro ▲
Abrasive Obtala Resources boss Frank Scolaro, a British lawyer of Italian descent who has become an active wheeler-dealer in the junior mining sector, is known for his self-confidence, colourfully expressed comments on peers in the mining game and a belief in his ability to tap investment funds at least as well as his financial advisers.  

22. Paul Jourdan ▲
Cambridge PhD holder Jourdan is the co-founder of Amati Global Investors – formed following the buy-out of Noble Fund Managers. Originally a violin player in an orchestra, he turned his part-time hobby of investing into a career. Amati (named after the inventor of the violin) now has more than £70 million under management. In the year to October, its Smaller Companies Fund achieved a return of 8.6 per cent, well up on the 3.3 per cent benchmark.

23. Richard Bernstein ▲
Founder and head of technology investment company Eurovestech, Richard Bernstein combines a sharp eye for lucrative deals with a concern for the wider responsibilities of business. An accountant and one-time Schroders Securities analyst who ran his own research house (Amber Analysis), he steered Eurovestech’s investment of £2 million in ToLuna, the online services supplier to global market researchers, into a £39.5 million cash realisation on its 2011 takeover.

24. Patrick Claridge ▲
As one of the City’s seasoned dealmakers, the genial Patrick Claridge, chief executive officer of broking and investment group Merchant Securities, has reason to celebrate this Christmas, having negotiated October’s £12.2 million sale of the company to South African financial services giant Sanlam. Claridge regards the Sanlam deal as his best since selling TIR Securities to E*TRADE in 1999 for around £112 million.

25. Jon Moulton ▼
This prickly, prolific venture capitalist has been terrifically busy this past year, even by his own profuse standards. His Better Capital Fund, launched in 2010, has already spent the £200 million or so that it reeled in from investors, with £110 million being invested in just the six months to September 2011. In the process he has hoovered up the likes of Santia Group, Reader’s Digest, DigiPoS, Calyx and Gardner Group. The firm is on the fundraising trail yet again to take advantage of his turnaround skills. 

26. Mark Niznik ▲
Niznik is the man in charge of the £300 million Artemis UK Smaller Companies Fund. Like many in his sector, he’s endured a rough ride since 2008, but the ex-Standard Life man remains bullish, believing that over the longer term his preference for ‘sticking to companies with a strong business franchise, strong free cash flow, high returns on capital and a reasonable stock market rating’ will see him, and his investors, through. 

27. Bobby Morse/Richard Oldworth ▲
PR veteran Oldworth remains in the chair of Buchanan Communications, but Morse’s energy is now driving the business forward.

28. Andrew Buchanan/Richard Power ▼
Highly experienced fund managers at fast-growing Octopus.

29. Tom Cross ▲
Cross sold Dana Petroleum for £1.7 billion and now heads North Sea hopeful Parkmead.

30. David Snell ▲
Upbeat partner at professional services giant PricewaterhouseCoopers.

31. Peter Gyllenhammar ▲
Entrepreneurial Swedish investor Peter Gyllenhammar is a secretive value investor.

32. Vin Murria ▼
A past winner at the Asian Women of Achievement awards, Murria now heads Advanced Computer Software.

33. David Collins ▲A
thinker, problem-solver and corporate finance partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner. 

34. David Newton ▲
Newton runs the successful Helium Special Situations Fund – up 158 per cent over three years.

35. John West ▲
Earlier this year financial PR firm Tavistock acquired mining rival Conduit, and West heads up the enlarged group.

36. Julian Palfreyman ▼
Affable Palfreyman is CEO of leading market-maker Winterfloods.

37. Graham Herring ▲
Having sold most of Threadneedle PR to Porta Communications, dapper Graham Herring maintains its pace.

38. Nick Davis ▲
Head of corporate at leading law firm Memery Crystal, Davis is also founder of Olivia’s Vision, a charity focused on uveitis.

39. Peter Ashworth ▼
Ashworth is a well-regarded analyst at long-established broker Charles Stanley.

40. Paul McManus ▲
Married earlier this year, McManus is the founder of fast-growing PR firm Walbrook.

41. Cyril Theret ▲
Beleaguered PLUS Markets Group chief executive Cyril Theret must steer it through losses and shareholder dissatisfaction. 

42. Chris St John ▲
A manager at the AXA Framlington UK Smaller Companies Fund, whose holdings include Kentz and Oxford Instruments.

43. Alex Snow ▼
Following Investec’s acquisition of Evolution Securities, the ex-professional rugby player faces an interesting time ahead.

44. Brian Kinane ▲
Yorkville Advisers specialises in raising innovative debt/equity finance; chirpy Irishman Kinane heads up the London office.

45. Richard Hughes ▼
Entrepreneurial Hughes helms corporate finance boutique Zeus Capital in Manchester.

46. Simon Raggett ▼
Raggett’s active corporate finance boutique, Strand Hanson, lately advised on Christopher Mills’s GTL bid.

47. Adam Reynolds/Richard Feigen ▲
The pair recently established corporate finance house Hub Capital, and have already completed several deals.

48. Howard Shore ▼
City veteran Shore has enjoyed an exciting 2011 as the investment bank has continued its forward march. 

49. Fraser Thorne ▼Thorne is the boss at enigmatic paid-for research house Edison Investment Research.

50. Richard Griffiths ▲
Founder of Evolution, effervescent Griffiths is now the driving force behind active investor Ora Capital Partners.