Sarasin & Partners has appointed Fiona O’Neill as Head of Investment, further strengthening the firm’s investment leadership and oversight.
O’Neill joins from Fidelity International where she spent 20 years in a range of senior investment roles. Most recently, she served as Head of Global Equity Research Capabilities, leading critical strategic initiatives to enhance alpha generation across a team of more than 130 equity research analysts. During her tenure at Fidelity, she also held senior roles in equity research, cross-asset research and fund management, including as part of the team managing the Fidelity European Growth Fund, which had approximately $15bn in assets under management. She formed part of various leadership and governance committees across the firm.
In her new role, which begins on 2nd February 2026, O’Neill will be responsible for overseeing Sarasin & Partners’ thematic equity investment process, including equity research and stewardship. Her appointment enhances the firm’s investment governance by streamlining management responsibilities within the equity team, allowing portfolio managers, Tom Wildgoose and Nikki Martin, to focus more fully on investment decision-making.
O’Neill will also assume responsibility for equity risk oversight and board-level investment reporting. In addition, she will join the Investment Strategy Group, ensuring close alignment between the group’s thematic work and the equity research process, and that long-term themes are effectively translated into investable ideas.
The appointment follows Sam Jeffries’ promotion to Head of Asset Management last year, and continues to strengthen oversight across both equities and multi-asset strategies. The move comes alongside other recent senior developments at Sarasin & Partners, including the promotion of Tom Vernon to Head of Private Clients.
Sam Jeffries commented “The addition of Fiona significantly strengthens our investment leadership and brings greater clarity and focus to the structure of our equity team. By streamlining responsibilities, we are ensuring our portfolio managers have the time and capacity to concentrate on high-quality decision-making, while further enhancing the depth, consistency and effectiveness of our thematic equity research. Fiona brings exceptional experience from a global platform, and her research insight and risk oversight will be invaluable as we continue to evolve our investment process for the benefit of clients.”
Fiona O’Neill added “Sarasin & Partners has a strong investment philosophy, underpinned by high-conviction thematic research and a clear focus on long-term outcomes for clients. I look forward to working closely with the investment team to further strengthen our research capabilities, embed themes into portfolio construction and deliver market-leading investment outcomes for our clients.”