Woodford to increase overseas limit in trust

Neil Woodford is poised to increase the limit on overseas investments in his £940m Edinburgh investment trust to 20%, as the manager continues to find better income opportunities outside of the UK.

Woodford is currently restricted to holding 15% in securities listed on overseas exchanges. The move would allow the income star, who also runs the Invesco Perpetual Income and High Income funds, to top up existing bets which have been performing strongly. The manager holds overseas stocks including Reynolds American, Altria, Roche, and Novartis in the trust, as well as backing them in his two multi-billion pound OEICs. He has continued to stick to his guns, investing in defensive sectors in the expectation they will see share prices rise as investors look for dependable companies....