Funds

The feted Anthony Bolton, manager of the £700 million Fidelity China Special Situations fund, has confirmed that he will retire in April 2014.

The chairman of the £250 million Hansa Trust has defended his fund’s reluctance to buy back its shares to control its discount.

James Barstow, manager of the Aurora Investment Trust, has accepted that his fund has disappointed over the past year but expressed confidence that his portfolio of turnaround stocks will fulfil their potential in the months ahead.

Hugh Young’s Aberdeen All Asia investment trust has recognised that it missed out on several growth opportunities over the past year, but still managed to beat the broader market comfortably.

Fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown has defended the independence of its research following revelations of its more aggressive approach towards negotiating with fund groups.

The £200 million Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust has introduced several new internet businesses to its portfolio, tipping them to complement existing information technology holdings rather than create a concentration risk.

A long struggling fund has been tipped to deliver a double-digit return whether or not its performance improves, a team of analysts has argued.

Shires Income, a FTSE-beating fund run by Aberdeen, has revealed that it has built a position in BG Group (LON:BG) following the oil and gas conglomerate’s recent struggles, despite wishing to remain underweight in the sector.

The respected fund manager Sebastian Lyon, who oversees almost £3.25 billion of assets, has lamented others’ willingness to put investors’ money at risk by rushing into inflated markets.

Gerald Smith, manager of the £1 billion Monks Investment Trust, has admitted to making mistakes in his stock-selection process and set out a strategy for turning around his fund’s performance.

The chairman of the Lindsell Train Investment Trust has revealed that star manager Nick Train has agreed to relinquish a substantial portion of his annual bonus.

Aberdeen’s respected fund manager Bruce Stout has confirmed that he will maintain a defensive posture until economies, rather than stock markets, rally.

The Artemis Venture Capital Trust, which focuses on AIM-listed companies, has revealed that it plans to return money to shareholders due to a dearth of attractive investment options.

Equities was the best-selling asset class in April 2013, with net retail sales of £799 million compared with £103 million in March, according to the Investment Management Association (IMA). 

Dale Robertson, manager of the £300 million European Investment Trust, has revealed that he has been reducing his exposure to companies with ‘predictable profit streams’.