Income fund manager Neil Woodford is leaving Invesco Perpetual to set up his own firm.
Woodford will leave Invesco on April 29 after 25 years employment. Woodford currently runs the highly successful Invesco Perpetual Income ( Gold Rated) and High Income ( Gold Rated) funds, which will be taken over by Mark Barnett following a six month transition. Assets under management total £24 billion between the two funds.
Woodford also advised on the equity component of the Invesco Perpetual Monthly Income Plus Fund ( Gold Rated) and the Invesco Perpetual Distribution Fund ( Gold Rated) which will now be managed by Ciaran Mallon alongside the existing fixed income managers Paul Causer and Paul Read.
"I leave the company on good terms and remain fully committed to my fund management responsibilities at Invesco Perpetual until my departure," Woodford said.
"My decision to leave is a personal one based on my views about where I see long-term opportunities in the fund management industry. My intention is to establish a new fund management business serving institutional and retail clients as soon as possible after April 29, 2014.
"There will be no further comment at this stage. Further announcements about the new business will be made after I have left."
Woodford also manages the Edinburgh Investment Trust (EDIN), recently celebrating his five year anniversary as manager. While it has been confirmed that Woodford will not continue this role after April, it is unclear who will take over.
"Whereas the firm has to announce successors on the OEICs instantly, the board of the trust is free to appoint a new manager over time and may put it out to tender which can make the whole process much more convoluted, but also more indepedent," explaind Morningstar analyst Jackie Beard.
Analysts across the City have placed Woodford's funds under review upon hearing the news.
Mark Dampier, head of research at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown advised investors not to panic sell.
“Neil Woodford has over 25 years managing money at Invesco Perpetual and I believe he will continue to work hard at achieving strong performance for investors until he departs in April. We believe investors need not consider selling the fund now and I myself will be remaining invested," he said.
"For new investors we would however we would suggest waiting until the new manager has taken over the fund and have suspended it from our 'buy' list for the time being."