Invesco veteran joins VPC Specialty Lending board

Victory Park Capital Specialty Lending (VSL) has appointed BlackRock Income and Growth Investment Trust chair Graeme Proudfoot to join its board.

The alternative finance-focused fund, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, announced Proudfoot’s appointment as non-executive director on Thursday.

He will replace Richard Levy, who is founder and chief executive of VSL’s portfolio manager Victory Park Capital.

Levy will retire from the board on 31 December.

He had announced plans to step down earlier this year before a general meeting showed a third of shareholders opposed his reappointment to the board.

Proudfoot brings asset management and investment trust experience gained working for Invesco as legal adviser and general counsel between 1992 and his retirement in 2019.

“We were looking for a director with deep expertise in the investment trust market and the standing, mindset, and knowledge to be independent and capable of challenge. Graeme certainly has those attributes,” Kevin Ingram, chair of VSL said.

VSL is also in the process of appointing a new chair ahead of Ingram’s retirement next year.

It comes after shareholders had expressed concerns about the conditions for allowing the fund to continue ahead of a vote at its annual general meeting in June.

The board promised an option to vote on the closure of the fund next year if they are still unhappy with its performance.

However, the votes also showed significant opposition to the re-appointment of Ingram and Levy as directors.

A quarter opposed Ingram’s re-appointment and a third were against Levy.