Woodford could face income sector expulsion at end of 2013

Neil Woodford's £13.7bn High Income fund is at risk of being expelled from the IMA UK Equity Income sector at the end of 2013 if its historic yield does not improve.

The Invesco Perpetual fund – the largest single asset offering in the UK – is lagging IMA requirements that UK equity income funds produce a yield of 110% of the FTSE All Share on a rolling three-year basis. According to IMA data, the fund had a year-end yield of 3.9% in 2011, in line with 110% of the All Share. But last year the fund yielded 3.7%, below the required 3.9% mark. That means the portfolio must yield 117% of the index at the end of 2013 in order to fulfil sector requirements. As of the end of April 2013, High Income had a historic yield of 3.23%, according to Invesco P...