Skagen to restructure £4.5bn Global fund

Skagen's Knut Gezelius is to "significantly restructure" his £4.5bn Global fund following a period of severe underperformance in 2014.

Speaking at Skagen's annual new year conference, Gezelius said a large overweight position in Russia and underweight position in the US led to the fund delivered 6.82%, underperforming its benchmark, the MSCI AC World index, which returned 18.6%. The fund's exposure to Russia has already been reduced, although the manager has retained a few small holdings in the region. Gezelius' next move will be to increase the portfolio's concentration in its top holdings. "We will be more focused, putting more weight in our top 35 holdings," he said. "It is a strategy that has served us well...