Maven strengthens its Scottish Loan Fund team

Maven has appointed Martin McLaren as Portfolio Manager and Brian Scouler as Portfolio Consultant. Martin and Brian will assist the existing Scottish Loan Fund (SLF) team across its Scottish offices to help develop and manage the expanding SLF portfolio.

The SLF, which is managed by Maven, was established by the Scottish Investment Bank to address the demand for finance from eligible Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and has a focus on supporting growth and export businesses that have an established presence in Scotland. The Fund has already provided capital to twelve ambitious Scottish SMEs, with a number of new transactions due to complete over the next few months.

Martin joins from Lloyds Banking Group in Edinburgh, where he was a Relationship Manager in the Corporate Real Estate Business Support Unit that was tasked with deleveraging the Bank from the former Bank of Scotland (Ireland) corporate real estate portfolio. Prior to that he worked within the Equity Risk Management Division within Lloyds where he provided a risk oversight for the Bank’s equity portfolio. He was also previously part of the Corporate Finance team at Henderson Loggie in Edinburgh and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland.

Brian is a highly experienced Private Equity portfolio director having served as non-executive director of 26 portfolio companies across a wide range of industry sectors over a 25 year period. He was with Dunedin Capital Partners for 10 years as Portfolio Director and as a member of the Investment Committee, and from 2009 to 2011 was Principal Fund Manager of the Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust. Prior to that Brian was with Royal Bank Development Capital, Charterhouse Development Capital and KPMG, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland.

Martin McLaren, Portfolio Manager at Maven, said: “I am delighted to have joined the Maven Portfolio Team, working in support of the SLF. The fund is a valuable initiative for the SME sector in Scotland and I look forward to helping businesses realise their potential through investment from Maven and the SLF”

Brian Scouler, Portfolio Consultant at Maven, said: "I look forward to working with the Maven portfolio team and SLF portfolio companies. I have many years’ experience in portfolio management and am excited to be joining the team as the SLF goes from strength to strength."

Andrew Craig, Fund Manager for the SLF and Partner at Maven, said: “We are delighted to welcome Brian and Martin to the team at Maven. The SLF has now committed over £30 million to ambitious Scottish SMEs. These appointments will help to further strengthen our team and in turn provide additional support to our growing portfolio of companies across Scotland.”