Newton has warned investors not to be misled by the current yield figure for its Higher Income fund being advertised by some ratings agencies.

Tineke Frikkee, investment manager for the equity Income fund said the yield figure issued by fund ratings agencies would need to be adjusted due to the fund changing the frequency of its income payments from half-yearly to quarterly at the end of last year.

As a result, statistics from Financial Express show that the full year yield has been 8.5 per cent, which would make the fund a stand out performer in the IMA’s UK Equity Income sector.

However, the additional payment, which came about because the fund moved to quarterly dividends, means that the figure should be closer to 7 per cent, which would mean the fund would be the second best performer (on dividend yield) in the sector.

In an exclusive interview with What Investment.co.uk, Frikkee said that the change will bring the fund's distribution cycle in line with the other Equity Income funds in the BNY Mellon range.  The company said that it is more in keeping with the fund's aim to provide 'regular income'.

Frikkee explained that the strategy of her fund means she is subject to a strict dividend yield objective and that has been the key to its success.

As a result, any stock that is added must have a dividend yield of 15 per cent or more above the average FTSE All Share yield.

Frikkee explains, ‘We [Newton] would sell a stock when the dividend yield drops below the market average because when we look at the yield of a stock, we look forward, especially during the period of dividend cuts.

‘We aim to grow our income every year, so, at this stage, we would look at the dividends between now and February 2011.

It is a very short time frame, but that is how we work.’ The news comes just one week after Schroders announced that it expected the dividend on its income fund to reduce by around 30 per cent (read here).