Rathbones' Chillingworth scales back defensive positions

Rathbones' Julian Chillingworth, manager of the £49m Blue Chip Income & Growth fund, has cut back his defensive positions as he believes they have become overvalued.

Chillingworth (pictured) has taken his 19% holding in utilities down to 15% by cutting back his positions in water and electrical companies, including United Utilities, the National Grid and Severn Trent Water. "The recent trend among investors has been to cluster around defensive names, and as a result, the sector has seen relative outperformance against other sectors," he said. The Rathbone manager is now preparing to invest in more economically sensitive names, which also reflects his more bullish stance on prospects for the global economy in the second half of the year. In part...