Management

James Barstow (59) graduated from Cambridge University where he studied economics before employment with KPMG 1973 to 1981. During his time at KPMG's London office he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and gained a wide range of experience in auditing, taxation, receiverships and liquidation both in the UK and also from three foreign postings at a time of deep cycles in the global economy.

Realising that a more interesting career would be enjoyed in trying to forecast the future rather than check the past,  he made a career move into investment management by joining  the UK equity department of John Govett Investment Management Ltd on 1st April 1981. He became a director of the group in 1988. Until his departure in 1991 he managed pension funds, including Govett's own, the UK investments for two overseas investment trusts and a top performing unit trust specialising in the area of UK GROWTH stocks.

In 1991 he left to join River and Mercantile to manage the Extra Income Investment Trust. During the three years and three months under his stewardship this trust far outperformed the index and all its peer group.  

In March 1997 he finally achieved the target set by Warburgs and launched Aurora Investment Trust plc with an initial capital of £15.25m. The objective of this new investment trust is to achieve capital growth from investments in UK growth stocks.

Stephen Wood (57) joined Mars Asset Management in March 2005. He gained a degree in Electronic Engineering from Brunel University and also an MBA from Manchester Business School. Stephen has 28 years experience in investment management and has been employed by Cavia Pen, John Govett and, most recently, Groupama.