Montanaro Asset Management was founded in London in 1991 by Charles Montanaro, to offer a distinct, unhurried and genuinely long-term approach to investing in smaller companies.
We are an independent boutique with an uncompromised long-term horizon. No parent company, no quarterly earnings treadmill, no committee-driven house view — simply a specialist team doing one thing properly.
Charles Montanaro started the firm with a conviction that quoted Small and MidCap companies were poorly served by the City. They were under-researched, misunderstood and routinely overlooked by institutions that could not be bothered to visit them. More than three decades later, that remains true — and it remains our opportunity.
We describe the firm as an “Oasis in the City”. Short-term market noise is deliberately disregarded in favour of thorough, proprietary research. We believe that sustainable, superior investment returns come from owning the highest-quality businesses, with strong balance sheets and market-leading niches, and then leaving them alone to compound.
Our ideal holding period is “forever”. We support the companies we own through constructive engagement and active ownership rather than trading in and out of them.
These values govern who we hire, what we buy and how we look after the people who trust us with their capital.
A flat hierarchy with zero internal bureaucracy. Everyone can speak to everyone, decisions are made quickly, and the team dynamic is entirely collaborative — focused on client outcomes rather than internal politics or empire building.
A relentless search for “hidden gems”: businesses with genuine competitive moats, pricing power, high returns on capital and the kind of niche leadership that is very hard to displace.
ESG analysis is fully integrated into our fundamental research, not bolted on afterwards. And we are committed to practising what we preach in the way we run the firm itself.
Patient capital, supported by comprehensive pre-investment due diligence. That always includes visiting the company on site — the factory, the laboratory, the headquarters — before we invest a penny.
We run one of the industry's largest dedicated in-house research teams for this asset class, with zero reliance on third-party sell-side notes. If we own it, we researched it.
High-touch client service and transparent communication, underpinned by co-investment: every member of staff invests alongside our clients, so we succeed or suffer together.
We believe that sustainable, superior investment returns stem from investing in the highest-quality businesses — and that the best way to find them is to do the work yourself.
We ask a great deal of the companies we invest in. It would be hypocritical not to hold ourselves to the same standard.
Verified by B Lab as meeting rigorous legal and operational standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and public transparency. B Corp status is re-certified, not awarded once and forgotten.
Our corporate operations are certified carbon neutral across Scope 1, Scope 2 and operational Scope 3. We have reduced business travel, improved energy efficiency across our London headquarters and offset the certified remainder.
We operate a matched donation scheme for employee charitable initiatives. The firm and its staff together made a major collective contribution to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
A commitment to the London Living Wage, mental wellbeing support, fair parental leave and funded professional development — alongside the diversity commitments we expect of our investee companies.
Montanaro is a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and to the UK Stewardship Code. Our PRI Annual Assessment and Transparency Reports from 2017 to 2025, the UK Stewardship Code Report 2026 and our TNFD Biodiversity Report are all published in full.
Our Board, Investment team, ESG & Sustainability specialists, Client Relations, Operations, Risk, Compliance and IT functions all sit together. There are no silos and no internal hierarchy to navigate.
Chairman / Portfolio Manager. Honours degree in Anthropology, Durham University (1976). Merrill Lynch from 1980, Dean Witter from 1984, founded Montanaro in 1991. Over 40 years of market experience.
Chief Executive Officer. Joined April 2007, appointed CEO on 1 January 2016. MBA from Instituto de Empresa, MSc Finance & Economics from LSE, BA from ESCP-EAP. Previously Bryan Garnier & Co.
Non-Executive Director. Over 35 years of Asian equity experience. Co-founder, CEO and CIO of Prusik Investment Management for 15 years; previously Head of Asia Pacific at Henderson Global Investors.
Non-Executive Director. Corporate finance and equity research veteran covering wealth and asset management at HSBC, Bridgewell and Canaccord. Non-Executive Director across financial services firms.
Independent Advisor. Senior corporate advisor and seasoned non-executive director across high-profile British institutions.
Chief Investment Officer. Joined in 2010; previously at Aon Benfield. BA in Economics, University of Nottingham. CFA charterholder.
Analyst / Portfolio Manager. PhD in Engineering, Imperial College London (2000). Covered German SMID Cap at Cazenove & Co; joined Montanaro in 2005.
Analyst / Portfolio Manager. Joined in 2007 after six years as a management consultant at Accenture in Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Diplom-Kaufmann, University of Passau. CFA charterholder.
Analyst / Portfolio Manager. Joined in 2012; career began in 1994 at BZW / Barclays Capital. MSc in Finance, London Business School. Consumer discretionary, automotive, aerospace & defence.
Analyst / Portfolio Manager. Joined in 2015 after six years in M&A advisory at Rothschild & Co. MSci in Experimental & Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge (2008). CFA charterholder.
Analyst / Portfolio Manager. Joined in 2023 from PwC, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA ICAEW) in Investment Management Tax. First-class degree, University of Bristol.
Analyst / Deputy Portfolio Manager. Joined in 2020; previously led European healthcare coverage at Third Bridge. MA in Natural Sciences (Pathology), University of Cambridge (2016). CFA charterholder.
Analyst. First-class Honours in Economics, University of Exeter; MSc in Financial Economics, University of Oxford. Previously interned at Montanaro.
Analyst. BA in Economics, Durham University. Interned across investment banking before joining Montanaro's research division.
Analyst. BSc in Mathematics & Economics, LSE. Conducts proprietary equity screening, fundamental modelling and sector deep dives.
AI & Data Science Analyst. Joined September 2026. First Class Honours in Mathematics with Data Science, City St. George's, University of London (double departmental prize winner). Previously with WPP AI/IR teams and Findlay Park.
External Consultant — Senior Quantitative Researcher. Provides advanced quantitative analysis, portfolio risk modelling and econometric research.
Chief of Staff / Head of Sustainable Investments. Joined in 2014; member of the Executive Committee. MSc in Environmental Technology, Imperial College London; BA from Bristol. CFA charterholder.
Senior ESG & Impact Specialist. Joined January 2021. Leads ESG integration, corporate net-zero targets and impact measurement, with a background in ESG research and sustainable advisory.
Product / Sustainability Specialist. Focuses on sustainable fund positioning, client impact reporting and regulatory disclosures across SDR, TCFD and SFDR.
Head of Client Relationship Management. Studied Politics & Law at the University of Grenoble (1981); joined Martin Currie in Edinburgh in 1986. Covers France, Benelux, Switzerland, Spain and Scotland.
Head of Distribution. Degree in Banking & Financial Management, Sheffield Hallam University (2013). Leads UK institutional and intermediary distribution across London, the North, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Senior Investment Sales Manager. Joined in 2022. Responsible for financial intermediaries and discretionary wealth managers across East Anglia, the Midlands and the South-West.
Consultant — Nordic Region. MSc in Finance/Business, University of Linköping and University of St. Gallen. Equity research at Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, KBW and Morgan Stanley covering Nordic financials and technology.
Marketing Assistant. Business Management degree, University of Portsmouth, with a placement year at Aberdeen Asset Management. Handles client events, campaign execution and digital collateral.
Head of Compliance, Risk Management and Administration. Degree in Banking & Finance, Birmingham City University (1994). Began on the Schroder Investment Management Far East Desk.
Compliance Manager. Zoology degree, Imperial College London (2004), followed by a Master's degree. Extensive financial compliance and regulatory oversight experience.
Compliance Executive. Law degree, University of Kent, with volunteer work at the Kent Law Clinic. Handles FCA compliance, regulatory monitoring and client onboarding.
Senior Finance Manager. Joined February 2021. Former CFO of CD Capital, a mining private equity fund, for seven years, with extensive outsourced CFO and corporate accounting experience.
Head of Operations. Experimental Physics degree, University of York (2003). Over 18 years in asset management trade support, settlement and fund accounting operations.
Deputy Head of Operations & Risk. Career started at Trinity Broking LLP in derivatives, followed by proprietary trading operations and risk infrastructure roles.
Operations Manager. Joined in 2017; previously Fund Accountant at Citco Fund Services in Singapore. Specialises in fund accounting, unit pricing and transfer agency.
Operations Analyst. Supports daily trade reconciliation, fund valuation and data management.
Client Reporting Manager. BA Honours in German and Russian, University of Nottingham (2005), with study periods in Jena and St. Petersburg. Manages bespoke client reporting and valuation packs.
Head of Systems. Business Studies degree, Coventry University; formerly at Aberdeen Asset Management PLC. Leads IT infrastructure, enterprise architecture and cyber security.
Systems Administrator. Joined in 2022 with a background in IT administration, infrastructure support and network management.
Office & Events Manager / Executive Assistant. Biology at the University of Leeds and Quest Professional College. Manages office administration, corporate hospitality and executive logistics.
Office Coordinator / PA to the Chairman. Certified legal secretary (2011) and experienced City receptionist and executive coordinator, supporting Charles Montanaro.
Our culture only matters because of what it produces: a disciplined, repeatable process for finding and holding the best Small & MidCap companies in the world.
The information on this website is directed at Professional and Institutional Investors only. It is not intended for, and should not be relied upon by, Retail clients.
By continuing, you confirm that you are a Professional or Institutional Investor, that you have read and accepted our terms of use and disclaimer, and that you understand that past performance is no guarantee of future returns and that your capital is at risk.
Small-cap securities can experience higher volatility and wider liquidity spreads than large-cap equities. Montanaro Asset Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 183211.
