OREANDA-NEWS. In anticipation of a period of maternity leave for the lead portfolio manager Wee-Li Hee, the Board of Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust plc (the "Company") has agreed to the appointment of Vinay Agarwal as interim lead portfolio manager for the Company, effective 20 July 2016. Mr Agarwal will be supported by Martin Lau, Scott McNab and the broader First State Stewart Asia team.   

Vinay joined the FSSA team in July 2011, is based in Singapore, and is a Director of First State Stewart Asia.

With more than 12 years of investment management experience, Vinay is the lead manager of the First State Indian Subcontinent Fund. He is also responsible for managing a number of Far East Leaders and Indian equity portfolios on behalf of key client segregated accounts. Vinay graduated in 2002 with a management degree with a major in Finance from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree with a major in Accountancy from Calcutta University.

With significant exposure of the Company to Indian companies, the Board believes that Vinay is well suited to taking up this role in the absence of Wee-Li.