It’s ten years now since Neil Woodford launched his own fund management company. He was seen as a miracle-working fund-management guru in our business for many years, running highly successful equity income funds with Invesco, formerly Invesco Perpetual. Many, both advisers and DIY investors threw money at his startup fund and it was heavily promoted by the likes of Hargreaves Lansdown who, of course, don’t advise but leave it to you to decide…I was, I’m delighted to boast with hindsight, a tad more cynical and would that others had followed my minnow’s-eye view. As has been oft-proven in many a circumstance, political, sporting and business, someone outstanding in the midst of a big team is not always the best person to run their own show. Taking big risks with small companies can work well, but will go wrong. If your investors want their money back at the same time, the surround of a big company can cover many a track; not so if the buck stops with you. Lessons for us all.
“What next for investors if interest rates have peaked?”
What next is a much better couple (or more) of years ahead. If you have investments, you’ll have seen a pretty sharp ‘uptick’ since November after a pretty sharp ‘not much happening or going down’ since the beginning of 2022. We’ve said many times that when things move, they can move pretty quickly.
