CF Woodfood Equity Income reveals top 10 holdings

Woodford Investment Management has revealed the top 10 holdings within Neil Woodford's first eponymous fund, CF Woodford Equity Income.

The ex-Invesco Perpetual star released details of his largest investments on Monday; two weeks after CF Woodford Equity raised a record breaking £1.6 billion in its initial offer period, which ran from 2 to 19 June.

The largest investment is in British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which accounts for over 8% of the portfolio. Few managers have such a high weighting in a single stock, however Woodford has been an investor in and advocate of AstraZeneca for a number of years.

During American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's bid for Astra Zeneca earlier in the year, Woodford remained adamant that shareholders should not sell, writing in the Daily Telegraph that the firm had a "brighter, more valuable long-term future" as an independent company.

Woodford's second largest holding at 7.1% of the portfolio is fellow British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, while European pharmaceutical firm Roche is his sixth largest holding at nearly 4%, underlining Woodford's oft-voiced preference for the sector.

British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Reynolds American also feature among the fund's top 10 holdings, tobacco being another of the manager's favoured sectors.

Taken together, Woodford has over 34% of his fund invested in pharmaceutical and tobacco stocks. However, as naturally defensive sectors usually resilient to falling markets, this is in-line with the manager's bearish outlook on the economy: "The global economy and financial markets both face a tricky time over the next few years, but there are still many undervalued assets in equity markets and it is these opportunities that the fund is seeking to exploit," says Woodford.

"There is significant emphasis in my new fund on the tobacco and pharmaceutical sectors [as] these two sectors are resilient to falling demand, have strong balance sheets and attractive valuations," he adds.

Former holdings BT and Rolls-Royce also feature among the top 10 as does Imperial Innovations, an AIM-listed British technology company that Woodford also previously invested in within his Invesco Perpetual funds, Invesco Perpetual Income and Invesco Perpetual High Income.

The fund's top 10 holdings account for nearly 51% of CF Woodford Equity Income's portfolio, confirming that the manager will continue to invest in the highly concentrated, high conviction style he became known for at Invesco Perpetual.

Woodford Investment Management confirms that it will reveal the full portfolio on 14 July, committing to updates on a regular monthly basis thereafter, a move Patrick Connolly, head of communications at Chase de Vere, welcomes:

"The top 10 holdings themselves don't provide too many surprises for those who've followed Woodford in the past; however it is really positive news that Woodford will be disclosing the full portfolio breakdown.

"We are moving into a world of greater transparency and it is hoped other investment managers will follow suit,"he says.