Barnett takes over Woodford's Income funds ahead of schedule

Mark Barnett has assumed responsibility for Neil Woodford's former funds at Invesco Perpetual almost two months ahead of schedule.

Barnett was originally scheduled to take over the management of the Invesco Perpetual High Income, Income and UK Equity Pension funds after Woodford left the business on 29 April.

Now Invesco Perpetual has revealed he will assume responsibility with immediate effect.

A spokesperson from Invesco says the reason is simply that the "transition has gone so well".

"Mark has met with lots of clients and the response has been very positive. He is familiar and comfortable with the portfolios and keen to get going and timing feels right," Invesco Perpetual tells our sister title Money Observer.

Barnett has said in a statement: "I'm pleased to take on the management of these funds, working with my colleagues in one of the most highly-regarded investment management teams in the UK. We will continue to take the active, value-driven investment approach with a long-term focus that has contributed to the funds' strong performance over the years."

Adrian Lowcock, senior investment manager at Hargreaves Lansdown, says Barnett has worked closely with Woodford for 17 years and he is not expecting any major changes to the funds in the short term.

"We would like to see how he adapts to his new responsibilities before considering adding him to the Wealth 150 list," he adds.

Woodford, meanwhile, will continue at the business until 29 April as planned but will now be concentrating on the institutional mandates he looks after until his departure.

In the past six months, since Woodford announced his plans to leave Invesco Perpetual, the High Income fund has returned 8.8%, against a sector average of 9.1%. It is currently in the third quartile, ranked 53 of 102 funds in the UK Equity Income sector.

The Income fund sits marginally higher, just in the second quartile of the same sector, at 49th. It has returned 8.9% over the past six months.

The UK Equity pension fund has returned 8.5% over the same period.