Miton's Williams grows cautious on consumer plays like supermarkets

Manager of Diverse Income trust

Miton's senior executive director Gervais Williams has been reducing his exposure to certain consumer stocks in his Diverse Income trust in favour of leading niche companies.

The manager, who runs the £387m Diverse Income trust with Martin Turner, said he was in favour of companies that have fewer competitors.   "I am more cautious on consumer areas such as supermarkets, which face mutiple competitors," he said. "You have to be wise and careful that any change in behaviour from one competitor will not affect the rest of the sector. "So we are moving into more specific, niche areas that only have two or three competitors." These names include greetings card company IG Design and foam manufacturer Zotefoams, which were among the top contributors to the...