Student process tops income sector over five years

Norwich Union's income manager Ian Lancaster is reaping the benefits of an investment strategy that began its life as his MBA dissertation

Few financial advisers would pick Morley's Ian Lancaster as the best-performing UK equity income manager over the past five years. But the man behind the Norwich UK Income Opportunities fund has managed to outperform the likes of Neil Woodford, Anthony Nutt and Adrian Frost, generating 125.1% bid to bid returns over the 60 months to 26 March. The £53m fund, which was brought under the Norwich banner last year, began its life as an MBA dissertation into quant screen techniques. Lancaster then ran a notional portfolio on a website between 1999 and 2001, before setting up a unit trust in Fe...