Neil Woodford’s new fund surpasses Invesco Perpetual Income in fund size
Just over a year after star fund manager Neil Woodford left Invesco to set up his new fund, Woodford Equity Income has overtaken the fund he previously managed in fund size.
Launched in 2014, the fund is now worth £6.74bn in size to the end of July compared to Invesco Perpetual Income’s size of £6.45bn at the end of June.
Read more: Neil Woodford: One year after leaving Invesco, star fund manager reviews his stock picks
The fund has returned 21.9 per cent compared to 7.3 per cent for the sector, becoming the best performing fund in the Investment Associations UK Equity Income sector.
The fund has also outperformed the 3.3 per cent return of the FTSE All Share.
Strong performance has been particularly aided by smaller companies, whereas the core large company’s element, especially in pharmaceuticals in which a third of the fund is invested, has lagged.
Adrian Lowcock, head of investing, AXA Self Investor, said:
[Woodford] is likely to have periods where his performance will lag the FTSE All Share and in the past we have seen these periods of underperformance have sometime lasted years.
However, Woodford’s robust stock picking process with a focus on company fundamentals and valuation of the companies he invests in means over the longer term he is likely to deliver.