Invesco follows Woodford in altfin sell-off amid rising outflows
Invesco is the latest fund manager to turn to alternative lending-focused assets to address a liquidity squeeze.
Through his funds, Invesco’s Mark Barnett has sold his stakes in direct lending investment trusts Honeycomb and VPC Speciality Lending (VSL). He is also the largest shareholder in Pollen Street Secured Lending through a number of his funds and it emerged today that Invesco is backing Waterfall’s purchase of shares in the alternative-finance focused fund.
Barnett is the successor of fallen star stockpicker Neil Woodford, who left Invesco to set up his own fund management firm. Woodford had to sell down stakes in investment trusts P2P Global Investments and VPC Specialty Lending to address a flood of investor redemption requests, prior to closing down his funds.
Read more: Alternative finance-focused investment trusts facing ‘existential crisis’
Like Woodford, Barnett’s funds have been hit by mammoth outflows in recent months, amid growing concerns over liquidity and decreasing returns.
£200m was withdrawn from Barnett’s Invesco Income, High Income and UK Strategic Income funds in January alone, according to data provider Morningstar.
Barnett has raised £51m from Honeycomb and £42m from VSL, having sold shares below the current stock market price. He previously sold off his stakes in two alternative finance-focused funds that are in the process of winding down – Hadrian’s Wall Secured Investments and SME Credit realisation, Funding Circle’s dedicated trust.
Read more: What will Woodford’s fund demise mean for his P2P assets?