Following The Adviser Centre Monthly Review Meeting on 28^th April 2015, BlackRock UK Income was added to The Adviser Centre as a Positive Watch fund.

The fund is co-managed by Mark Wharrier and Adam Avigdori, who both work in the Fundamental Equity division of BlackRock’s Alpha Strategies Group.  Mr Wharrier is an experienced UK equity manager who re-joined BlackRock in 2013, having begun his career at Mercury Asset Management in 1994.  Mr Avigdori joined the UK equity team in 2001 and worked on this fund with the previous manager.

BlackRock UK Income is a long-established fund but the investment process has been revitalised since Mr Wharrier’s arrival in 2013.  The fund continues to seek out income as well as capital growth, but the original “barbell” structure has been replaced by a more flexible approach, framed around allocations to three main categories: strong free cashflow companies, which are the mainstay of the portfolio; growth companies; and, turnaround situations.  Through this approach, they seek to provide an above average and growing income, without sacrificing the benefits of long-term capital growth.  The approach is designed to be nimble enough for them to capture opportunities and guide the portfolio through different market cycles.

We have high hopes for the new management pairing, but it is still relatively early days for them and the refreshed investment approach that they have adopted.  We are pleased to add the fund to our Positive Watch list whilst we continue to observe their progress following an encouraging initial phase.

The fund features in our “Income and Growth” category within the IA UK Equity Income sector.  Please see our IA Sector Overview document for more details.

The Adviser Centre now features 126 funds in total, incorporating 97 funds on the Recommended list, 22 funds on the Established list and 7 funds on the Positive Watch list.