Woodford Equity Income has been named and shamed in Chelsea Financial Services’ annual analysis of funds that have most underperformed their sector, alongside Argonaut European Alpha and Jupiter UK Growth.
The Dropzone list examines the 10 funds that have underperformed their sector averages by the largest amount.
Argonaut European Alpha, Jupiter UK Growth and LF Woodford Equity Income all made an appearance in the list for the first time with the latter dividing opinion in the Chelsea Financial Services offices, according to head of communications Sam Slator.
“Some – like myself – have lost patience and are no longer invested in the fund. In my view, there are a number of excellent alternatives available,” Slator said, adding: “Others here have more faith in manager Neil Woodford being able to turn his performance around. He does, after all, have a very good, long-term track record.”
The worst performer in the list was the Close FTSE techMARK tracker, which has lagged because it invests only in UK, not global technology. Candriam SRI Equity Emerging Markets came in second place, while MFS Meridian Global Energy was third.
Worst funds overall
Chelsea Financial Services also runs the Redzone list, which examines funds that have been third or fourth quartile for three consecutive years.
In total, 188 funds made the list in 2019 – one more than the previous year. However, the total value of underperforming assets has dropped from £94.4bn last year to £66.3bn in the latest Redzone list.
UK All Companies had the most underperformers with 28 funds followed by 22 funds in the Global sector. IA Mixed Investments 40-85% Shares had 13 consistently underperforming funds.
Aberdeen Standard Investments had the most funds in the Redzone with 20 products featuring, representing £10.7bn. However, while Invesco had just three funds in the list, they collectively represented £12bn in value.
HSBC had eight funds representing £2bn and Jupiter had seven representing £2.2bn.
