According to a stock exchange announcement, Plackett, who runs the popular BlackRock UK Special Situations Fund, lifted his holding of the company to above the 5% reporting threshold.
In Rathbones’ October interims, the wealth firm’s investment arm posted a net operating income of £123.3m for the nine months ended 30 September, 12.7% higher than the previous year. Funds under management in the unit trust side of the business were up 23.1%, climbing from £1.3bn at the end of last December to £1.6bn at the end of this September.
Although BlackRock was unavailable for comment, in June Plackett was understood to have taken profits in Rathbones – a shrewd move given shares in the firm had just hit a record high of £16.68.
On 22 November, when the latest transaction took place, Rathbones shares were priced at £15.05. They subsequently fell to £14.80, but have steadily picked up.
Plackett’s £1.9bn fund currently has a financials weighting of 20.8%, including HSBC – largest position of 4.9% and Barclays at 2.7%.
