U.K. Pension Crisis Spurs Woodford Fund to Exit BAE Stake
- Fund dumps $209 million holding in defense firm after BT sale
- Rate cut following Brexit vote deepened U.K. pension deficits
A Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet, manufactured by BAE Systems Plc, performs a flying display on the second day of the Farnborough International Airshow 2016 in Farnborough, U.K., on Tuesday, July 12, 2016.
Photographer: Luke MacGregor/BloombergA fund run by Woodford Investment Management LLP has sold its 160 million-pound ($209 million) stake in defense contractor BAE Systems Plc, citing concerns over its underfunded retirement plan in a move that shows how the U.K.’s growing pension crisis is alarming investors.
The CF Woodford Equity Income Fund said in a post on its website that it had unloaded its stake in BAE, which a spokesman pegged at 0.9 percent. The fund, run by Neil Woodford, also recently offloaded a roughly 300 million-pound holding in U.K. telecommunications giant BT Group Plc, whose pension deficit has also swelled.