Funds run by investment giant Blackrock have sold off shares in fund house Liontrust.
Stock market filings showed that funds run by Blackrock own 11.3 per cent of Liontrust shares as of today (July 17), having owned 12.9 per cent of the company’s stock at the start of this week.
The share sales happened in two tranches, and happened in the aftermath of a period of strong share price performance, with the shares having risen in value from £7.36 to £7.88 over the past month.
Over the past year to July 17 the shares have risen in value from £6.88 to £7.88, giving Liontrust a market capitalisation of £399m.
Some or all of the shares were held in the Blackrock Smaller Companies investment trust, where the fund manager Mike Prentis retired earlier this year, and was replaced by Roland Arnold, who had worked as a co-manager on the trust and also runs the Blackrock Special Situations fund.
In its most recent set of results for the company, Liontrust reported its assets under management had reached £14bn at the end of June, an increase of 11 per cent.
The company reported a profit of £19m for the year to the end of March 2019.
The company cited the acquisition of a sustainable investment fund management team from Alliance Trust, and the hiring of bond fund managers from Kames and Baillie Gifford as being key to the growth.
david.thorpe@ft.com
