Fund manager 'needed more time'

ALISTAIR Lennard, the fund manager blamed by Unilever for the poor performance of part of its pension fund in 1997, was defended staunchly today by former colleague Paul Harwood, who told the High Court Lennard's investment decisions would have been proved right if he had been given more time.

Harwood, who was working for Mercury Asset Management in April 1997 when he inherited the equity portfolio run by Lennard, said he disagreed with Lennard's decision to hold no bank stocks, which soared in 1996 and 1997, contributing heavily to the fund's dismal results. He also said he would not have been six times overweight in the property sector, as Lennard was.

But Harwood said every fund manager operated differently, bank shares were overvalued at the time and that he bought some shares for the portfolio which did not perform well and which Lennard may not have bought had he still been running it.

'At the end of the day, value always wins,' he said. 'Alistair would have been proved correct with his portfolio given time.' Unilever is suing Mercury, now part of Merrill Lynch, for £130m over the performance.