BlackRock's Absolute Return manager Mark Lyttleton has conceded he took long positions in the wrong shares in 2011, leading to disappointing performance.
The manager of the £1.23bn UK Absolute Alpha fund saw the portfolio fall 6.8% last year (to 6 January 2012, according to Morningstar), as a number of stocks worked against the portfolio. Lyttleton blamed holdings in oil sector and consumer-facing stocks all held within the long side of the fund for the negative overall return. He said: "The majority of the fund's poor performance can be explained by picking the wrong shares. "Our holdings in the oil sector were particularly disappointing, despite many of the companies growing their resource over the year and the price of crude stay...
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