Miton's Williams warns of 'liftshaft' activity in UK share prices

Falls of as much as 70%

Gervais Williams, senior executive director and manager of the Miton UK Multi Cap Income fund, has said it is getting "harder to steer around" troubled UK-listed companies as more firms suffer "savage" double-digit share price falls.

The manager, who runs the £947m Miton UK Multi Cap Income fund, £385m Diverse Income trust and £173m UK Smaller Companies fund with Martin Turner, said as equity indices hit fresh record highs and company valuations reach higher levels, there is an increased risk of "liftshaft activity". Several firms have recently seen their share prices plummet after issuing unexpectedly poor trading statements or profit warnings. Most prominently, Neil Woodford and Mark Barnett holding Provident Financial was hit by a 70% fall in its share price this summer, after the firm's chief executive announc...