Liontrust to close Distribution portfolio

Liontrust has closed its £12m Distribution fund following a lack of investor demand. The fund off...

Liontrust has closed its £12m Distribution fund following a lack of investor demand.

The fund offered a split between equities and gilts, with the group’s Jeremy Lang running the former part and the latter outsourced to First State.

Lang manages the equity portfolio as a mirror of his £795m First Income fund. Since launch in December 2004, Liontrust said the fund has failed to deliver a successful track record or generate significant assets under management.

Nick Pilkington, marketing manager at the firm, said: “Distribution has underperformed both the UK equity market and the UK government securities market.

He added this can be attributed to the structure of the fund, with a maximum of 40% in UK equities and the remainder in gilts.

“We believe the current structure of the fund is such that it will never deliver either satisfactory security or growth,” he said.

Liontrust recommends investors switch to Lang’s First Income fund or any other vehicle of their choice or simply redeem units for cash.