The manager of the £467m BlackRock Throgmorton investment trust has reduced the number of investments with the aim of concentrating only on the "highest conviction" shares.
The number of holdings has been reduced from 174 holdings in November 2017 to 131 at the end of November 2018.
The information is contained in the annual report of the trust, covering the year to November 2018, published this morning (February 12).
During the year, Mike Prentis, a veteran UK smaller companies fund manager at BlackRock, stepped aside as co-manager of Throgmorton, with Dan Whitestone taking sole charge.
Previously, Mr Prentis, who also runs the BlackRock Smaller Companies investment trust, had selected the "long" positions in Throgmorton, that is, the shares being bought to profit from a rise in value, while Dan Whitestone, who is now sole manager, managed a portfolio of "short" investments, that is investments that profit from a fall in the share price.
The board of Throgmorton felt that having one manager would help raise the trust’s profile, as Mr Prentis is well known for his other funds.
Mr Whitestone’s response to being in sole charge was to reduce the number of investments.
During the year in question, the trust returned more than 2 per cent, while the sector average return for the AIC UK Smaller Companies trust was a loss of 2 per cent.
The trust trades at a discount to net assets of 5.5 per cent.
david.thorpe@ft.com
