U.K. Stockpicker Smith Made More Than £35 Million in Bumper Year

(Bloomberg) --

British fund management veteran Terry Smith netted himself 35.6 million pounds ($47.9 million) after growing profit at Fundsmith LLP through a turbulent year.

Smith, who manages the giant Fundsmith Equity fund, earned about 20% more than a year earlier, according to accounts for the year through March filed at the U.K.’s Companies House. 

Profit before tax also rose by about a fifth to 57.7 million pounds, according to the accounts. Meanwhile, assets in Fundsmith Equity reached an all-time high of 27.9 billion pounds at the end of November, according to its website, as Smith continued to attract retail investors and achieve double-digit returns.

The accounts don’t give the full picture of Fundsmith’s operations. The U.K. company, which manages funds in London, Delaware and Luxembourg, paid 188 million pounds to Fundsmith Investment Services Limited, which is based in the low-tax jurisdiction of Mauritius and is not required to file public accounts. Smith, 68, is a resident of the island. 

The star stockpicker founded Fundsmith in 2010 after a career in the City of London that included leading interdealer broker Tullett Prebon. While some active managers have struggled with outflows and stumbling share prices during the pandemic, Smith added about 5 billion pounds to his flagship fund this year.

Read more on the woes of some stockpickers

Fundsmith Equity returned about 18.5% in the year through November, according to its website. The portfolio is global but biased toward U.S. equities, benefiting from big bets on companies such as Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., Estée Lauder Cos. and McCormick & Co. The annual rise was slightly below the MSCI World Index, which Smith has consistently beaten since the fund’s launch, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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