Neil Woodford

Old Mutual Wealth chief executive Paul Feeney has contacted clients to defend a decision to shut the Skandia Invesco Perpetual income funds, pointing to "truly exceptional circumstances" following Neil Woodford's departure.

Skandia's decision to switch pension clients out of its Invesco Perpetual Income mandates and into Neil Woodford's new CF Woodford Equity Income fund is expected to cost investors over £6m in trading costs.

Skandia has handed £640m worth of life mandates currently run by Invesco Perpetual's Mark Barnett to Neil Woodford, in a move Hargreaves Lansdown analysts suggest may be the first of many.

Neil Woodford's St James's Place mandate is in line for a rapid windfall from the manager's investment in Daisy Group after its chief executive said he was plotting a £500m buyout of his own company.

Neil Woodford has added a new position in Royal Mail to his £2.4bn Woodford Equity Income fund as the company's share price began to falter this year.

Equity Income fund managers are yet to warm to the tobacco sector, despite a strong 2014 for stocks driven by M&A and their defensive qualities.

Woodford Investment Management was the best-selling fund group by active sales in the second quarter of this year, after raising £1.6bn for its Equity Income fund.

Net retail sales of UK equity income funds hit a record high of £1.4bn last month, according to the Investment Management Association, as Neil Woodford's new fund provided a boon to the sector.

Jupiter's Merlin multi-manager team have added Neil Woodford's equity income fund to their portfolios as they back the manager's new project from launch.

BENCHMARKING