Threadneedle's Colwell adds to Centrica in contrarian trade

Threadneedle's Richard Colwell is adding more to stocks including Centrica and GlaxoSmithKline as he seeks contrarian equity income plays for the months ahead.

The co-manager of the Threadneedle £3.3bn UK Equity Income fund, who marks his five-year anniversary at the group this quarter, said investors should now be weighing the prospects of such contrarian stocks in the face of a trickier environment for UK payouts. Having produced top-quartile performance on the portfolio alongside Leigh Harrison since his arrival, Colwell (pictured) suggested the coming years will present more of a challenge for income investors. “Three to four years ago, it was a nice environment globally in terms of dividend collection. You could buy the likes of Unileve...