He says the market faces a challenging future as economic and corporate fundamentals catch up with share prices and the monetary stimulus prop that has bolstered markets in recent years is removed.
But, while markets are likely to be trickier going forward, he says, that doesn’t mean that there are not significant opportunities to be found. Rather, it means that the skill of the fund manager is going to come increasingly to the fore.
However, he does say he is more cautious than the consensus when it comes to the outlook for UK growth.
“Will we be able to sustain and grow this nascent recovery that has been going for best part of a year now?,” he asked in a Portfolio Adviser Fund Manager video, “The jury is out. I think it is early days yet and there are a lot of head winds.”
“There is reason to be cautious about the UK’s ability to continue to grow at the sort of rates that a large number of economists are predicting for the next 12 months,” he added.
Asked about his plans for the newly created Woodford Investment Management, Woodford says, part of the rationale behind setting up the new firm was to create an entity that allows fund managers to focus on fund management.
In that vein, he told Portfolio Adviser’s Gary Corcoran, “My focus is on fund management.”
“This is by no means a hobby, boutique endeavour. The people who have joined this business, have all joined a business that they believe will grow into something significant in the fund management industry. We have ambitions to build a proper, a scaled business.”
For the full interview, click here.
