F&Cinvestment trust head celebrates FTSErelegation
JEREMY Tigue, manager of the Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust, has taken the unusual step of welcoming the fund’s demotion from the FTSE 100 index this week.
While most company bosses treat being part of the top-rank index of blue chip giants as a goal above all others, Foreign & Colonial (F&C) said Tigue has “relished” his fund’s relegation to the lesser FTSE 250 index.
“Job done,” said Tigue in a statement. He said the fund’s demotion this week came as many of the UK firms it invests in have performed well and overtaken it, meaning good returns for his investors. The FTSE100 stint has served its purpose as a “buy signal”, boosting interest in the shares, he said.
“It means we’ve done our job – we’ve heralded a rally, and stuck to what we do best: providing a globally diversified spread of investments aimed at steady growth of both capital and income,” he added.
Top bosses covet the top index as it is invested in by a large number of traders from around the world, guaranteeing stock liquidity.
And FTSE100 presence also comes with automatic “passive investment” from areas like pension funds.