Banking exposure leaves many income funds down 50% in a year

Large banking positions have led to several funds in the UK Equity Income sector shedding more than ...

Large banking positions have led to several funds in the UK Equity Income sector shedding more than 50% over the past year but even those with little exposure have not escaped large losses. Funds such as Standard Life UK Equity Income Unconstrained and New Star Higher Income have lost over 50% in the 12 months to 27 October and vehicles at the top of the sector are down nearly 30%. The Standard Life fund has had 27.7% in financials and manager Dominic Byrne has blamed 18 months' underperformance on this sector. Meanwhile, New Star Higher Income has 21.06% in banks and manager Toby Tho...