According to Mr Burns, the appointment reflects the recent strong performance of the SGH ICE Fund and growth prospects within the small cap sector of the market.

“With substantial experience in asset management, Mason is an excellent fit both culturally and from an investment philosophy perspective. He has a proven track record in being able to achieve strong returns and understands the demands of a retail client base.

“His appointment places the ICE Investors team in a very strong position to continue to deliver superior investment performance for our clients,” he said.

Prior to joining ICE Investors, Mr Willoughby-Thomas was senior co-portfolio manager of the Ausbil Investment Management small and microcap funds. He was also previously employed as portfolio manager/ senior analyst at Australian Ethical Investment and held analyst positions at ING Investment Management and AMP Capital Investors.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce with honours from the Australian National University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Mr Burns said the appointment of Mr Willoughby-Thomas comes at an opportune time for the domestic small cap sector, with certain industries poised for particularly strong growth.

“Companies connected to pharmaceutical distribution, cloud software, online services and food are likely to do well as the economy reopens. We’ll be continuing to focus on franchise companies with a durable competitive advantage, organic growth opportunities, appropriate debt levels and strong cash flow generation he said.

SGH ICE is a benchmark unaware fund, but draws most of its investments from Small Industrial stocks which have outperformed during COVID-19 and over the long term.

It currently holds 43 stocks which are a mix of longer-standing companies growing at a steady rate, and those that have been advantaged by the pandemic and experienced even more significant growth as a result.

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