Lees piles into FTSE 100 names in F&C UK Alpha

F&C Investments' UK equity head Peter Lees has been moving up the market-cap scale in his £210m UK Alpha fund, upping exposure to FTSE 100 names by 15% since the start of the year.

Lees plans to increase exposure by a further 5% by the end of this year, taking holdings in the space to 70%, as he believes the FTSE 100 will gain 10% in the next six months. He is building up positions in stocks that generate a large proportion of their revenues overseas, boosting exposure to the likes of Tesco, Standard Chartered and Compass Group, which he believes will post total returns of 15% by 2012. “With the macroeconomic clouds surrounding the UK, we are selling out of consumer-facing stocks such as Kingfisher to move into companies that generate the vast majority of their ...