Mark Shields, Investment Manager with the Multi-Asset team at Brooks Macdonald, and responsible for the management of the IFSL Brunsdon Adventurous and Cautious investment Funds explains …
“Brooks Macdonald has not had any exposure to funds managed by Woodford Investment Management in discretionary accounts. As a house we also do not have any funds on our buy list managed by the firm.
“Brooks Macdonald used to hold the Invesco Perpetual High Income (which was managed by Neil Woodford) in the early 2000s. However we subsequently moved the majority of our position to Mark Barnett’s IP UK Strategic over fears that Neil’s IP High Income had become too big. This was prior to Neil leaving IP and when he did leave we retained our assets with Mark Barnett at IP.
“In recent years we have felt that Woodford was more interested in unlisted biotech positions (i.e. Patient Capital) rather than running a core UK equity income fund which is why we never put him onto the buy list.
“We did write a buy note for Patient Capital when it first launched, partly due to client demand. However, we then also issued a ‘soft’ sell recommendation a few months later when it moved to a 12% premium and a further sell note shortly after this. As a house we currently have very limited exposure and again none in MPS (Managed Portfolio Service) – the illiquid nature of this fund pretty much precludes its inclusion.”
The information in this article does not constitute advice or recommendation and does not form part of any contract for the sale or purchase of any investment. However if you’d like to discuss your personal investments or financial circumstances, please contact your Brunsdon Financial Adviser.
