The manager (pictured), who left Invesco Perpetual last week in order to start his own firm, will launch the CF Woodford Equity Income fund in June and has big plans for Woodford Investment Management (WIM) in future.

“This is not about hobby fund management, this is not about a boutique structure, this is about creating a scaled fund management business,” Woodford said.

In a video on his new firm’s website, the manager added he wanted to focus on his investment strengths – but also emphasised other core tenets of WIM.

“This is about low charging structures, it is also about transparency: making sure clients know what they are paying for,” he said.

Woodford added he wants to communicate regularly with clients via “digital media”, and promised a “completely open” attitude.

A new chapter

Speaking to the Telegraph, meanwhile, Woodford said he “will be here for decades to come” and intends to create a sizeable business to back him.

“My best years as a fund manager are in front of me. I have learnt a lot from my successes and failures. I am a better fund manager now than I was 25 years ago,” he said.

He added his new fund will be run “in exactly the same way” as the Income and High Income funds he ran at Invesco Perpetual.
 
“It will have the same philosophy, the same long-term approach,” he said.

The manager added his new business will give him a chance to focus on his strengths, and hinted at a possible reason for his departure from the Henley-based group that was his place of work for a quarter-century.

“I want to concentrate on what I do best: managing money. When you work for an established business there will always be a creep of distracting bureaucracy; it is the same in all industries,” he said.

Future expansion

Woodford’s plans for WIM will mean the company launches other funds in future; these may include a global equity income fund as well as fixed income and other products, according to the paper.

AstraZeneca

Turning his attention to the stock market, Woodford said Pfizer’s rejected £63bn bid for AstraZeneca – a company in which he was, for many years, the second largest investor via his Invesco funds – still undervalued the company.

Elsewhere, he repeated concerns about recent political intervention in the utility sector, but said he still planned to invest in the sector through his new fund.

Woodford added that it is important not to get “too scientific” when analysing stocks.

“You need a basic understanding of accounting but not advanced skills. It is important not to get too scientific about it.

“Accounts are becoming more complex and impenetrable – HSBC’s run to about 500 pages – and I defy anyone to read and understand them all.

“As long as you assume that companies report their results faithfully, you do not need to be a genius to get what you need from their accounts.”