Old Mutual's Message reduces the number of stocks on inherited equity income funds

Old Mutual's Stephen Message has reduced the number of holdings in the £30m Equity Income and £24m Extra Income funds he inherited in November.

Message became manager following the departure of Michael Gifford. He has reduced the holdings in both funds from 75 to 55 and runs two baskets, one for core income stocks and the other for core growth names. He has also sold the fixed income holdings in the Equity Income fund, while Corporate Bond manager Stephen Snowden runs the securities portion of Extra Income. “I was an analyst on the fund before taking over as manager, so I was comfortable with many themes in the portfolio,” he says. “However, to me, a portfolio of 75 stocks feels too much. I prefer to run larger positions w...