Update: Stifel downgrades Woodford Patient Capital to 'hold'

Following share price drop to all-time low

Investment trust analysts at Stifel have downgraded the Woodford Patient Capital Trust from 'buy' to 'hold' on concerns about the overlap of its holdings with the suspended Equity Income fund and the impact dwindling investor support could have on the trust.

In a note, Stifel analysts Iain Scouller and Anthony Stern said one of the key concerns is around the overlap of holdings between the fund (WEIF) and the trust (WPCT), in the event of continued redemptions or in an extreme scenario if the fund is "forced to move into run-off". The duo calculated that 26% of the trust's NAV is held in listed companies that are also constituents of the open-ended fund, while 64% of the unlisted companies in the trust are also held by the fund. They added: "In an unusual transaction in March, WPCT acquired five unlisted companies for a total of £72.9m fr...