The star manager, who is handing over his Invesco Income and High Income funds to Mark Barnett in April, will launch a new Income fund sitting in the IMA UK Equity Income sector in May, a source at Oakley confirmed to Your Money’s sister title, Investment Week.

The fund will have an offer period which will likely run for three weeks to incorporate the bank holiday in May, the source added.

The news comes days after it emerged Woodford’s new firm – named Woodford Investment Management (WIM) – had been set up in the middle of January, at the same address as Oakley Capital.

It had already been announced Woodford’s new venture would use Oaley Capital’s infrastructure.

WIM was set up by Nicholas Hamilton and Richard Graham Catherwood Smith. Hamilton is an ex-Invesco Perpetual employee.

Hamilton, head of institutional business at Colonial First State in Sydney, will return from Australia to work at Oakley Capital Management in Woodford’s retail asset management business when he joins on 1 May 2014.

Prior to joining Colonial First State, he spent nine years as head of global equity products at Invesco Perpetual.

The appointment follows the news Craig Newman, former head of sales at Invesco Perpetual, has joined Oakley as head of retail asset management.