City Financial to take over Octopus UK Equity offering

City Financial is to take over management of Octopus Investments' Absolute UK Equity fund in a move which will see manager David Crawford join the group.

Crawford will become City Financial's first in-house manager when he brings the fund over on 31 July, subject to FSA approval. The absolute return vehicle will be renamed the City Financial UK Equity fund and will continue to be managed with the same process by Crawford, formerly of Hermes IM and M&G. The fund has returned 53.7% since inception in March 2008 versus a 9.4% return from the FTSE 100 over the same period, according to City Financial. But over the three years to 25 May it has lost 8.9% compared with an IMA Absolute Return sector average return of 11.3%, according to Mornin...