Woodford unveils new fund details

The launch of Neil Woodford's new fund could be Britain's biggest.

Neil Woodford, Britain's best-known fund manager, announced details of what may be the largest fund launch ever in the UK. Woodford Investment Management will begin accepting money into the CF Woodford Equity Income Fund on 2 June.

Investors are expected to shift billions of pounds from the Invesco Perpetual funds previously run by Woodford to his new firm.

What the commentators said

The strong track record he built up over 25 years at Invesco Perpetual should encourage plenty of other investors to switch. But if he needs an "ace up his sleeve", it will be fees, said Holly Black on Thisismoney.co.uk.

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The new fund has an all-in fee of 0.75% per year. Invesco Perpetual High Income has ongoing charges of 1.17%. This raises the prospect of a price war as Invesco tries to prevent defections good news for cost-conscious investors, said Lumsden.

Cris Sholto Heaton

Cris Sholto Heaton is an investment analyst and writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2006 and was managing editor of the magazine between 2016 and 2018. He is especially interested in international investing, believing many investors still focus too much on their home markets and that it pays to take advantage of all the opportunities the world offers. He often writes about Asian equities, international income and global asset allocation.

Cris began his career in financial services consultancy at PwC and Lane Clark & Peacock, before an abrupt change of direction into oil, gas and energy at Petroleum Economist and Platts and subsequently into investment research and writing. In addition to his articles for MoneyWeek, he also works with a number of asset managers, consultancies and financial information providers.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Investment Management Certificate, as well as degrees in finance and mathematics. He has also studied acting, film-making and photography, and strongly suspects that an awareness of what makes a compelling story is just as important for understanding markets as any amount of qualifications.