Omnis Investments replaces Woodford with Jupiter Asset Management
Wealth manager Openwork’s Omnis Investments has chosen Jupiter Asset Management to run a £317m fund that was formally run by Neil Woodford’s firm.
Openwork removed Woodford Investment Management from the Omnis Income and Growth fund shortly after Woodford suspended its flagship fund on 3 June.
Read more: Hargreaves Lansdown chief executive angered by suspended Woodford fund
St James’s Place also pulled a separate mandate from Woodford following the decision to freeze the fund.
Openwork said in a statement that it decided to change managers in May “as part of Omnis’ focus on delivering the best outcomes for clients and the advisers that serve them”.
The fund will be run by Jupiter’s head of strategy and value equities Ben Whitmore.
Jupiter chief investment officer Stephen Pearson said the asset manager’s UK portfolio manager Richard Curling “will thoroughly analyse and manage the fund’s small and unquoted holdings and, over time, bring this element of the portfolio in line with Ben’s strategy”.
The Financial Conduct Authority has launched an investigation into the suspension of the fund, which was frozen on 3 June after Kent County Council tried to withdraw its £263m pension fund.
The FCA said it engaged with the fund’s manager Link Fund Solutions in February and March 2018 regarding breaches of the 10 per cent limit on unlisted securities within the fund.
Read more: Woodford failed to warn Hargreaves Lansdown of unquoted stocks breach
It said it held monthly meetings with Link from April to December 2018 to monitor the deteriorating liquidity within the fund.
Between April 2018 and April 2019 the liquidity of the fund fell steeply as its was hit by outflows which amounted to £4.3bn from its May 2017 peak.