BlackRock to take on £480m British Assets trust from F&C

BlackRock is set to replace F&C as manager of the British Assets trust after the company's board proposed a change of objective in order to target pension savers.

The firm said BlackRock wants to reposition the £481m trust, which is currently run as an equity income strategy by existing F&C manager Phil Doel, as a multi-asset portfolio. That would see 60% of the portfolio invested on a tactical asset allocation basis and the remaining 40% invested in UK equity income stocks. It hopes this will attract a new investor base and capitalise on opportunities presented by upcoming pension changes. The new objective would to be target a total portfolio return of CPI inflation plus 4% per annum over a five to seven-year timeframe. The trust would ...