NewSmith Capital Partners, the asset manager and advisory boutique set up by former Merrill Lynch bankers, has secured a $500m (€394.3m) investment from the Wellcome Trust, the £12bn (€18bn) UK charity, and says it will use the funds to diversify its business.

The asset manager, which has $5.5bn in assets under management, currently runs five strategies covering UK Equities, global macro, private equity, European credit and Asian equities.