Rosemary Banyard, who spent 18 years as a small and mid cap fund manager at Schroders has resigned from her latest role as manager of the SDL Free Spirit fund.
Ms Banyard was co-head of the European Smaller Companies desk at Schroders when she resigned in 2016 and joined Sanford DeLand Asset Management to launch the Free Spirit fund, which aimed to invest in a similar way to the funds she ran at Schroders. She also became a director of SDL.
Ms Banyard is currently working out her notice period.
The fund grew to £15m in size and was at one point attracting inflows of £1m a month.The fund was launched in January 2017. Prior to her career at Schroders, Ms Banyard worked at Capel and Co, and at AIB Govett.
Commenting on her decision to resign, Alex Brotherston, chief executive of SDL, did not comment on why she had left the company.
He said: “We are sorry to see Rosemary go and wish her all the very best. We would like to thank her for the expertise and insight she has contributed to the SDL business and as manager of Free Spirit Fund.
"Although Free Spirit is a relatively new fund, it has an encouraging track record and a portfolio of high quality businesses. Andrew Vaughan will continue to work closely with Rosemary over the coming six months."
Over the past year, the Free Spirit fund has returned 6.04 per cent while its sector, the IA UK All Companies, has returned 2.57 per cent. Since its inception the fund has returned 28 per cent while its sector has returned 14.77 per cent.
SDL is seeking to replace Ms Banyard.
