Downing has appointed Alex Paget to the fund management team as the group continues to grow the Downing Fund Managers (DFM) boutique listed fund business. He will work alongside Simon Evan-Cook on the Downing Fox multi-asset strategies.

Alex will join the Downing Fund Managers team in January from Liontrust Asset Management, where he was formerly Head of Client Investment Strategy. He held a similar role at Neptune prior to its acquisition by Liontrust in 2019. He has also held positions as an investment trust analyst at Kepler Partners, and is a former Financial Express journalist.

Simon Evan-Cook, head of Downing Fox Multi-Asset comments:

“One of my guiding principles is to surround myself with people who are smarter than me. Alex is certainly that. He first impressed me over a decade ago, grilling me to within an inch of my life on how I managed funds of funds. He has since built up an impressive level of industry knowledge which, combined with his natural curiosity, will be invaluable to us as we grow our business.”

Simon joined Downing in February 2022 and in April he was appointed by Johnston Financial as Investment Adviser to the VT Johnston Financial Multi Asset funds. The £151 million fund range, which was launched in 2020, consists of two funds: The £82 million VT Johnston Financial Multi-Asset Cautious Fund and the £69 million VT Johnston Financial Multi-Asset Balanced Fund.

He advises on these funds according to the Downing Fox investment process, which focuses on identifying outstanding active funds at reasonable charges.

Downing Fund Managers was established by Judith MacKenzie in 2010. She has spent the last 12 years growing the boutique’s assets and ensuring it provides the right vehicles for investment mandates. DFM has been gradually adding to its range of strategies and now offers six different but complementary funds, with plans to launch the Downing Fox multi-asset strategies in the coming months.