McInroy & Wood, the East Lothian-based wealth managers, have attracted industry heavyweight Simon Fraser as a non-executive director.

Mr Fraser is currently chairman of the Investor Forum, Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust and Merchants Trust, and is a director of Ashmore Group and the Fidelity European Values trust.

He is the former chief investment officer at Fidelity International, where he eventually became president of its international, European and UK business.

Mr Fraser led the industry move five years ago towards scrapping performance fees for investment trusts, saying trusts had been “too lenient” with managers.

Tim Wood, chief executive of McInroy & Wood, said: “The board is particularly pleased to be joined by a non-executive director possessing such distinguished credentials and long experience within the investment management sector. His attributes will help sustain the continuity and quality of the firm’s service to its clients.”

The Haddington-based firm, co-founded 31 years ago by former Edinburgh Fund Managers star Victor Wood, has now topped £1.3billion of client funds, almost four times its level in 2009.

Its Balanced Fund still run by Mr Wood, 71, has returned 52.8per cent over five years against 36.7per cent for its benchmark, and 29.1per cent over three years against 18per cent, according to Trustnet. For one-year performance it is ranked second out of 123 funds in its sector, according to Lipper figures for Investment Life & Pensions Moneyfacts, and second out of 56 funds over 10 years.

Both the emerging markets and income funds are in the top half of their league on three-year performance.