Smith & Williamson merges UK fund range

Smith & Williamson Investment Management has merged its UK Growth fund and its Opportunities fund into the group's UK Equity Growth trust.

The £13m Growth fund and the £16m Opportunities fund were both run by Mark Boucher, who also runs the group's UK Equity Growth trust. Following the move, the UK Equity Growth trust now has assets of £40m. The consolidation comes amid a drive across the asset management sector to cut costs and remove sub-scale funds. "As a result of this consolidation, we now have one long-only UK equity growth fund, of a decent size, with potential to grow," Boucher said. The remaining fund has returned 27.1% to investors over the last year, versus a sector average gain of 26.6%. Over three y...