Inertia hits even the largest players

Inertia hits even the largest players

Neil Woodford managed to raise £1.6bn in three weeks with the launch of his own UK equity income fund.

Announcing the total last week, a sum salespeople at most groups would be ecstatic to receive, I wager there were, nonetheless, a few shrugs of disappointment around the Oxford HQ where the income star’s new firm is based. Yes, it is a new record and, by some way, more than trebled the amount raised by Anthony Bolton’s China Special Situations investment trust (which paid commission). For history buffs, it also beat the total raised by the legendary Royal Event in the 1980s, taking over a billion more, even when that total is adjusted for inflation. So why do I suspect the industry...