Invesco fund chief Mark Barnett, a former protégé of Neil Woodford, was dumped as manager of a top investment trust on Monday after a promised “Brexit bounce” failed to materialise.
Barnett, who inherited Woodford’s crown at Invesco in 2014, was sacked by the board of the £420 million Perpetual Income and Growth Investment Trust after a long run of ailing form.
The 49-year-old has run the trust since 1999, helping grow it to a high of £900 million in 2015.
Consultancy Mercer and broker Winterfloods have been appointed to identify a successor, which could be announced before September.
Barnett had said his bleak patch of investing would reverse once Brexit was sorted but despite a brief bounce his fund still lagged.
“The board had previously made it clear on several occasions it was concerned with the company’s poor performance and further intensified scrutiny on the manager’s investment approach,” said chairman Richard Laing.
“We gave Invesco time to build on the early ‘Brexit bounce’ that was anticipated, but this proved to be short-lived.”
Barnett was also fired from the Edinburgh Investment Trust in December.
Woodford’s fall has prompted fears for Barnett, who mimicked the fund chief’s investment style by taking big stakes in small hard-to-sell companies.
