JO Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM) has confirmed that it is to reopen its UK Equity Income fund to new investment, after 'soft closing' the offering in February last year.

James Lowen and Clive Beagles have co-managed the fund since its 2004 launch and made the decision to remove the additional charges, designed to discourage further investment, this week.

After reaching £750 million in assets the fund was 'soft closed' to ensure it remained sufficiently liquid to continue its strong performance.

It is now £930.4 million in size.

According to reports, a spokesperson for JOHCM said the reopening was due to the 'subdued environment in terms of equity flows' and the need to raise a further £50 million to offset the annual dividend.

In the absence of new investment, the fund has struggled, returning -5.23 per cent this year-to-date against an IMA UK Equity Income sector average of -2.06 per cent.

However, it has performed admirably over three years, seeing returns of 71 per cent against a sector average of 45.14 per cent.

The open-ended investment company is benchmarked against the FTSE All-Share Total Return Index and carries a minimum investment of £1,000.

It is available in the UK, as well as to investors in Ireland, Switzerland, Germany and Austria.