Woodford protege Mark Barnett leaves Invesco

Mark Barnett has left Invesco after poor stock selection led the Neil Woodford protege to be dismissed from two big fund management mandates.

Barnett will leave in a "mutually agreed" arrangement after 24 years at Invesco in which he took over from Woodford, his former mentor, to manage Invesco's flagship funds. Woodford's own business collapsed in 2019 after a series of bets on risky companies went wrong.

Invesco said Chief Investment Officer Stephanie Butcher made the decision after "a period of disappointing performance and listening hard to client feedback".

Perpetual Income & Growth Investment Trust sacked Invesco and Barnett in April after 20 years following a long period of poor results. That move followed Edinburgh Investment Trust severing its relationship with Barnett in December.

Like Woodford, Barnett suffered from poor stock selection and investments in small and thinly traded companies. His bad bets have included Burford Capital and Provident Financial, which were both former Woodford picks.

Butcher, who was appointed at the beginning of 2020, said: “In reorganising the UK equities portfolio and after discussion with Mark Barnett, we have mutually concluded that this is the right time for him to hand over the leadership of these funds and leave Invesco. We wish to place on record our appreciation of Mark’s profound commitment to both clients and colleagues over 24 years."

Ciaran Mallon and James Goldstone will take over as co-managers of the open-ended funds Barnett was responsible for. Martin Walker will be head of UK equities and will manage Perpetual Income & Growth Investment Trust until a new fund manager is selected.

Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at investment platform AJ Bell, said: News that Mark Barnett has left Invesco will perhaps come as little surprise after the last couple years with performance suffering and questions being asked over the positions taken in the portfolios, particularly around illiquid small caps and unquoted companies."

Hughes said investors weighing whether to stick with Invesco should seek further clarity from the funds' new managers about any portfolio changes.