The Board of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust plc announced the appointment of Mr. Richard Rae as non-executive independent Director of the company with effect from January 26, 2012. Richard Rae qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG and joined Hoare Govett as an investment analyst in 1987. He spent 22 years working in investment research and equities management, latterly as a Managing Director, responsible for smaller companies, in the Global Equities division of ABN AMRO (subsequently RBS). Since 2009, he has established himself as an independent management consultant providing due diligence and corporate advice to both listed and unlisted companies. He is a non-executive director of Mouchel Group plc. Eddie Cran, who has been a non-executive independent Director since July 2001, will retire as a Director of the company at the Annual General Meeting to be held on March 7, 2012.