Lehman 1-year on: Shah's Special Sits boosted by early financials calls

Sanjeev Shah's move to add a basket of financial stocks at the height of market fear following the Lehman fall has paid off for his top-decile Fidelity Special Situations fund.

Shah has beat his peer group by about 14% over the past year, with his current largest active position - Royal Bank of Scotland - contributing to the out-performance of the £2.5bn fund. The FTSE All Share lost a third of its value from the Lehman collapse on 15 September to the March market low, with the financials component of the index down about two thirds. While the stability of the banking system was severely in doubt, Shah's contrarian approach saw him add to a number of positions in the sector. "The question was whether the banking system would collapse and I felt that was u...