Standard Life Aberdeen : Smaller Woodford fund changes name, gets lower return target

The frozen LF Woodford Income Focus fund, formerly run by veteran money manager Neil Woodford, will change its name to reflect its change of management and have a lower returns target, its authorised corporate director Link Fund Solutions said on Tuesday.

Link Fund Solutions froze the 270 million pound fund in October after Woodford closed his firm, following the collapse of his flagship 3 billion pound fund.

The smaller fund will be called the LF ASI Income Focus Fund, Link said in a statement. Link said last month this fund would be run by Aberdeen Standard Investments.

The fund will aim to achieve a yield higher than the average yield of the FTSE All Share Index over a three-year rolling period. The yield of the index was 4.5% over the past 12 months, Link said. The previous income target of 5 pence per share per annum would have given a yield of 7.5%.

Woodford came in for criticism for his high level of exposure to risky assets. The repositioning costs of the fund will come to around 0.27% of its value, Link said.

Link reiterated that the fund will reopen no later than February 2020.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn. Editing by Jane Merriman)