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<\/p>\nFund manager Neil Woodford has dumped around \u00a31.4billion worth of shares in the past six months to raise money as unhappy investors pull money from his underperforming funds.<\/p>\n
Woodford has reduced his holdings in some companies including brickmaker Forterra and travel website Hostelworld.<\/p>\n
A combination of investor redemptions and underperformance stemming from bad bets on some blue-chip firms, such as Provident Financial and the AA, has seen the assets under management across his three funds shrink from \u00a317 billion to \u00a311 billion.<\/p>\n
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Woodford’s flagship Equity Income fund has underperformed against the benchmark\u00a0 FTSE All Share index and the average fund in the Investment Association’s All Companies sector over four years<\/p>\n
His Income Focus fund is down 8 per cent since March 2017, while the Patient Capital investment trust is down by almost 15 per cent since April 2015.<\/p>\n
The Equity Income fund has fared better (up 15 per cent) but its performance is over a longer period (since June 2014) and still lags behind the FTSE All-Share Index (up 26 per cent).<\/p>\n
It also trails behind the 26 per cent return generated by the average fund with a similar mandate in the Investment Association’s All Companies sector.<\/p>\n
Woodford admitted in last week\u2019s Mail on Sunday the past two years have been his \u2018most difficult period\u2019.<\/p>\n
Although the fund manager insists he does not want to portray himself as a victim, it is obvious he is feeling unloved: targeted by a hostile press, abandoned by many investors (and some financial advisers) writes Jeff Prestridge.<\/p>\n
He adds Woodford also feels victimised by hedge fund managers who have shorted some of his funds’ holdings \u2013 betting on them falling in price.<\/p>\n
Click here to read the interview in full.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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