Somerset Capital Management to close

Somerset Capital Management, the boutique fund manager co-founded by Jacob Rees-Mogg, is to close, the firm announced on Thursday.

In a brief statement, Somerset said it was in advanced talks to transfer its top performing funds to a new investment adviser, while its wider institutional business in London would close.

Its UK funds include the Somerset Asia Income Fund and the Somerset Emerging Market Dividend Growth Fund.

Somerset noted that should it agree a deal to move to a new investment adviser, it would ensure “the seamless continuity of these funds and their managers while positioning them for continued growth”.

Oliver Crawley, partner, said: “It has been a privilege to manage capital for world-leading institutions and clients for over 16 years.

“I am incredibly proud of all we have achieved in that time through the hard work and skill of our dedicated team.”

He did not comment on why the firm was closing. However, on Saturday the Financial Times reported that Somerset had lost more than two-thirds of assets after its largest client – wealth manager St James’s Place – terminated its relationship with the London-based firm.

As at the end of October, Somerset managed assets worth $3.5bn. But that figure had since fallen to around $1bn, the FT reported, after St James’s Place transitioned away.

Somerset was founded in 2007 by Rees-Mogg, Ed Robertson and Dominic Johnson.

Rees-Mogg has been a Conservative MP since 2010 and was a minister in the governments of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. He left Somerset in 2019 but remains a minority shareholder.

Johnson stepped down as chief executive last year and is now the government’s minister for investment, having been made a peer in 2022.

Only Robertson continues to work at the firm.