Neil Woodford has transferred £72.9m of unquoted shares from the Woodford Equity Income fund to the Patient Capital investment trust.
The transfer of the five unquoted holdings from Woodford Equity Income to Woodford Patient Capital was in exchange for £72.9m worth of shares in the Patient Capital trust.
In addition the Equity Income fund also paid £6m of cash for shares in Patient Capital.
At the end of the transaction, the Woodford Equity Income fund will have a 9 per cent stake in Patient Capital.
The company stated the move was in response to shareholder demand and would allow Woodford Patient Capital, which is focused on unquoted companies, to have a greater exposure to those, while the Equity Income fund can be more liquid.
The move also comes in light of the Treasury's Patient Capital Review, which recommended that unquoted and illiquid assets are best held in investment trusts, as the latter provide greater liquidity for investors.
Mr Woodford’s view is that if a fund such as Patient Capital had existed when he set up the Equity Income fund in 2014, then he would simply have invested in that from the start, rather than in the unquoted companies.
Craig Newman, chief executive and 35 per cent shareholder of Woodford Investment Management, said: "The Woodford Equity Income fund has always aimed to deliver a growing income stream and a total return by investing predominantly in listed stocks, with some exposure to unquoted holdings to generate excess returns from disruptive technologies. These objectives remain firmly intact.
"Neil is as passionate on the unquoted asset class as ever but having listened to feedback from clients we believe that moving the exposure to the asset class via a collective fund rather than individual unquoted stocks makes sense – both operationally and from an investor view."
david.thorpe@ft.com
