Our People
Robert Ash, FSI
Robert is a fully qualified stockbroker with close to twenty-five years' experience including 5 years at Kitcat & Aitken in London. He was also a partner in Cawood Smithie & Co in Harrogate with Duncan Williams and John Newsome and worked as an investment director at Brown Shipley in Leeds before becoming senior partner in Williams Investment Management LLP in May 2005. Robert brings with him intimate knowledge of private client investment management, much of which he learnt from his late father-in-law, Jonathan Smithie, who founded Cawood Smithie in 1975. Whilst at Cawood Smithie & Co, Robert set up its successful Northallerton office which he ran for several years.
Denis Kaye, FCA
Denis has been a chartered accountant for over thirty years, twenty of which have been spent developing firms in Yorkshire. He has roles in business development and finance with Williams Investment Management LLP. As an accountant he gained a clear understanding of the ways in which professional advisers want to work with their clients' investment managers and the importance of trust in those relationships.
Denis is currently Deputy Chairman of the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Yorkshire, a member of the IoD Council and the North Yorkshire Board of The Prince's Trust. He also holds a number of non-executive directorships.
John Newsome, FSI
John is a fully qualified stockbroker with close to twenty-five years' experience in private client fund management, investment research and strategy. He met Robert and Duncan at Cawood Smithie & Co in Harrogate, where he was also a partner. Following Cawood Smithie's sale to Brown Shipley, he continued to manage private client capital and also sat on its national investment policy committee. He was latterly head of research at Cardale Stockbrokers in Harrogate before joining Williams Investment Management LLP in October 2007.
Duncan Williams, FSI.
Duncan is a fully qualified stockbroker with over twenty years' experience of dealing with private clients.
His career started in Leeds with Broadbridge in 1987; he then moved to the well respected firm of Cawood Smithie & Co where he became a partner. Following the sale of Cawood Smithie to Brown Shipley, Duncan decided he wished to return to an independent firm in which he could focus more clearly on his clients and their long-term objectives. He founded Williams Investment Management LLP in May 2004.
