Meet the team
Get to know the professionals in our investment team and our board of directors
Ben Ritchie
Head of Developed Markets Equities
Ben Ritchie is Head of Developed Markets Equities at abrdn and originally joined the company in 2002 as a graduate. Ben graduated with a BA (Hons) in Modern History and Politics from Pembroke College, University of Oxford and is a CFA Charterholder and an alumnus of Harvard Business School.
Rebecca Maclean
Investment Director
Rebecca Maclean is an Investment Director in the UK Equities team at abrdn. Rebecca has worked in the responsible investment industry since 2010, joined abrdn in 2013 as a Responsible Investment Analyst and moved to the UK Equities team in 2016. Rebecca graduated with a BA in Experimental Psychology from University of Oxford, holds a MA in International Relations from King's College London, and is a CFA Charterholder.
David Barron
Chairman
David Barron is a Chartered Accountant. He was Head of Investment Trusts at JP Morgan Asset Management until 2013, Chief Executive of Miton Group plc until 2019, and then a non-executive director of Premier Miton Group plc until July 2023. He was also a director of The Association of Investment Companies until 2014. He is also a non-executive director of BlackRock Sustainable American Income Trust plc, Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust plc and Fidelity Japan Trust PLC.
Jasper Judd
Non-Executive Director
Jasper Judd is a Chartered Accountant. Until 2012, he worked for Brambles Limited, a listed Australian multinational, where he held a number of senior executive roles including Global Head of Strategy. He is also a non-executive director of JP Morgan Indian Investment Trust plc, Brown Advisory US Smaller Companies PLC, and Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Company plc. He is Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Christine Montgomery
Non-Executive Director
Christine Montgomery has over 30 years of investment management experience, most recently as Head of Global Equities at AustralianSuper in Melbourne from 2016 to 2019. She previously held roles as a global equities’ portfolio manager at Fidelity Worldwide Investments, Martin Currie and Edinburgh Partners. She is also a non-executive director of The Scottish American Investment Company PLC.
Howard Williams
Non-Executive Director
Howard Williams has over 35 years of fund management experience and was, until October 2017, Chief Investment Officer, and Head of the Global Equity Team at JPMorgan Asset Management. Prior to joining JPMorgan Asset Management in 1994, he held a number of senior positions at Shell Pensions and Kleinwort Benson Asset Management. He started his career at James Capel & Co. He is also a non-executive director of Strategic Equity Capital plc, Schroders Unit Trust Limited and Lifesight Limited. He is the Senior Independent Director.
Gay Collins
Non-Executive Director
Gay Collins has over 35 years of experience in the financial services sector and has founded and grown three PR companies, Montfort Communications, Penrose Financial (which became MHP) and Ludgate Communications and has an executive role at Montfort where she advises financial services companies on communications. She is also a director of the Association of Investment Companies.