Edinburgh Fund Managers (EFM) has suffered another blow with the departure of Alistair Thompson, who manages one of the UK investment firm's key clients, the £220m (€350m) Dragon investment trust.

Thompson, who has been head of Pacific ex-Japan at EFM for nine years, is joining First State Investments, the Australian-owned investment house, where he will work on the firm's range of Asia Pacific and emerging market funds.