Simon Hopkins

CEO at Milltrust International Group

Simon Hopkins spent his early career at S.G. Warburg, UBS, HSBC James Capel and Nomura International. In 1996, Mr. Hopkins founded Fortune Group, a diversified multi asset class advisory firm overseeing USD 7bn. The firm was successfully sold to UK-listed, Close Brothers Group in 2006. In 2011, Mr. Hopkins founded Milltrust International focusing on investment management in Emerging Markets, and specialist real asset solutions driven by the changing demographics of the developing world. Milltrust advises the Irish-regulated Collective Asset Vehicle (ICAV), Milltrust International Managed Investments offering a range of world-class investment solutions including diversified farmland investments in Latin America and Australasia, hospitality and specialist real estate investments. Simon is also a founding director of Novare Fund Manager managing a specialist African real estate fund that builds shopping malls in sub-Saharan African cities. Milltrust also delivers the industry’s first dedicated Emerging Markets Managed Accounts Platform which provides international investors with access to the local equity markets in the form of regulated Irish UCITS funds, through a selection of some of the world's best regional asset managers. It has structured investments with Value Partners (Greater China) and Keywise (Greater China), UTI International (India), Lion Global Investors (ASEAN), BTG Pactual (Brazil), Itaú Unibanco (Latin America), and SEDCO (MENA). Over the past decade, Mr Hopkins has seeded numerous successful hedge funds and emerging markets funds. He is a regular commentator on fund industry topics in the financial media and has addressed numerous conferences, the OECD and the London School of Economics. He was profiled in a significant interview with the Financial Times in December 2008. He graduated with honours from the University of Bristol's Faculty of Law in 1986 and resides permanently with his family in Singapore.