Witan appoints Lansdowne Partners for global equity portfolio

FSTE 250 company Witan Investment Trust has appointed UK-based hedge fund specialist Lansdowne Partners to manage a global equity portfolio.

The portfolio will have an initial value of £30m and will be invested in accordance with Lansdowne Partners' newly established developed markets long only strategy.

It will take effect from December 14th and will be funded from cash resources, with a small initial increase in short-term borrowings.

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Lansdowne Partners has a long history of managing equity portfolios. The company applies a concentrated stock-picking approach strategy. This consists solely of long positions in a portfolio of 15-25 stocks, chosen for their investment attractions, independent of stock market weightings.

Andrew Bell, Chief Executive of Witan Investment Trust, said: "This appointment is part of our continuing move to invest more with specialist managers who have innovative and high-conviction approaches towards creating value through stock picking and portfolio construction. Lansdowne Partners' unconstrained yet analytically- rigorous investment approach fits well with Witan's objective of seeking returns driven by the individual characteristics of portfolio companies and less dependent upon equity index performance."

RD