Since last June, the fund has delivered a 19.6% return. Over the same period the FTSE All Share returned just 7.8%, while the UK equity income sector returned 10.7%. In fact, says Richard Evans in The Sunday Telegraph, Woodford generated the best returns in his peer group of 85 funds.
Meanwhile, his old fund, the Invesco Perpetual High Income Fund, managed 12.9% still creditable, but well behind Woodford.The fund's remit is to deliver income and capital growth by investing in UK companies. The annual management fee is 1% fordirect investors with minimum investment of £150,000, otherwise it is 0.75%. Investors have "flocked" to it, says Evans it boasts £6.2bn of savers' cash. Most holdings are blue chips, with a focus on tobacco (which might be a problem in the future), defence and pharmaceuticals.
The strong performance was down to a mix of exposure to healthcare and consumer goods, and avoidance of oil and gas, says Shane Hickey in The Guardian. Laith Khalaf of Hargreaves Lansdown adds that Woodford's small caps selection generated 40% of the outperformance, despite accounting for only 15% of the fund.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Other picks include Royal Mail, Babcock and Drax, with 4%-5% of the fund invested in early-stage unquoted firms. Stock picking will continue to be key, as Woodford reckons UK growth will be "modest at best" in the next five years.
Contact: 0870-870 8482
| AstraZeneca | 7.03% |
| Imperial Tobacco | 6.54% |
| GlaxoSmithKline | 6.23% |
| British American Tobacco | 5.78% |
| BT | 4.33% |
| Allied Minds | 3.60% |
| Capita | 3.57% |
| Reynolds American | 3.08% |
| BAE Systems | 3.07% |
| Rolls-Royce | 2.92% |
-
Who is the richest person in the world?The top five richest people in the world have a combined net worth of $825 billion. Who takes the crown for the richest person in the world?
-
Top 10 stocks with highest growth over past decade - from Nvidia, Microsoft to Netflix, which companies made you the most money?
We reveal the 10 global companies with the biggest returns since 2013. One firm has posted an astonishing 9,870% return, meaning a £1,000 investment would now be worth almost £82,000.
