Revamped Woodford fund to re-open tomorrow

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Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.

The new ASI Income Focus fund (previously Woodford Income Focus) reopens tomorrow with investors able to place trades from mid-day today. Read the announcement here.

Yesterday, the new managers updated investors on the approach they are taking with the fund and provided details of the new portfolio, so investors now have a decision to make as to whether to stick with the fund or transfer to an alternative. Read the update here.

“With trapped investors set to be able to deal again from today in the former Woodford Income Focus fund, many will have a decision to make to determine whether the revamped fund under the management of Thomas Moore and Charles Luke is appropriate for them" ", says Ryan Hughes, Head of Active Portfolios at AJ Bell.

"With investors now getting a first look at the revised top 10 holdings and sector positioning, it is clear that the fund has undergone a complete overhaul with none of the top 10 holdings under the previous manager appearing in the new top 10. At a sector level, exposure to financials has doubled while consumer goods stocks are a significant overweight versus the benchmark.

“The bad news for investors is that this overhaul has come at a cost with significant underperformance of the FTSE All Share during the transition, not least because of the costs of making the changes to the portfolio. Many will see this as a final kick in the teeth, having suffered from poor performance and then had to pay again for the privilege of exiting the stocks.

“Looking forwards, investors now need to judge whether to keep the revamped fund or move on. It’s therefore important for investors to understand how the new managers think and get a feel for the types of company that they will likely invest in, to then be able to judge what the likely performance profile of the fund will be. Those investors who originally invested in the fund for income need to be aware that the fund has changed its income target from ‘5p per share per annum’ to ‘a yield higher than the average yield of the FTSE All Share Index over a rolling 3yr period’. In reality, this means the income paid on the fund is likely to be lower going forwards than before.”

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice.


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Written by:
Ryan Hughes

Ryan Hughes, Investments Director - AJ Bell Investments
Ryan started his career in 1999 working for an independent financial adviser, progressing to become Head of Portfolio Management at an award-winning advisory firm. Ryan then joined a global asset management firm as a Fund Manager, where he oversaw more than £10bn of multi-asset portfolios and also sat on the investment and global asset allocation committees. After seven years, Ryan joined a small multi-asset boutique managing portfolios for clients all around the world, before joining AJ Bell in 2016 to help establish our investment capability and overseeing all investment research for AJ Bell. In 2022, Ryan was appointed as Head of Investment Partnerships with responsibility for managing bespoke portfolios tailored to specific adviser needs and then in 2023, Ryan was made Investments Director with oversight of AJ Bell’s investment capability.

Ryan is a member of the CFA UK Society, is frequently asked for his views in the press and on panel debates while also being recognised as one of the leading fund researchers in the UK.


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