The Mercantile Investment Trust plc announced the appointments of Heather Hopkins and Graham Kitchen as Non-Executive Directors of the Company with effect from July 1, 2018. Ms. Hopkins has over two decades of experience in data analytics, research, financial services and international business, with expertise in retail distribution. She is Founder and Managing Director of NextWealth Limited which provides research and consultancy to platforms, asset managers and financial advice firms on the future of retail investment distribution. She is also a Director and Vice Chairperson of UK Platform Awards and The Investment Network, Clive Waller Consulting Limited, and The Investment Network, a Director of The Open Strings Foundation, and a columnist for The New Model Adviser. Mr. Kitchen has over twenty years experience managing UK equity funds, including OEICs, investment trusts and pension funds. He joined Janus Henderson Investors in 2005, where he was Global Head of Equities from 2011 to 2018. He was Head of UK Equities at Threadneedle Investments from 2004 to 2005 and held various positions at Invesco Asset Management between 1991 and 2004. He is a Non-Executive Director of Invesco Perpetual Select Trust plc and of Places for People, Chair of the independent investment committee of the Cancer Research UK Pension Scheme and a member of the investment committee of Independent Age. He also acts as mentor for The Prince's Trust and The Social Mobility Foundation.