By tradition, young financial journalists learning the ropes have done so by covering the smaller companies sector.
For the past 30 years they have learnt rapidly that the sector’s doyenne is Katie Potts, fund manager at the £1.2 billion Herald Investment Trust, now the target of a fierce campaign by the US activist investor Boaz Weinstein.
New York-based Weinstein acknowledges the stunning performance of Potts over most of her near 31-year tenure at Herald, during which investors in at the start have made more than 25 times their money. He argues, though, that returns during the past three years have been “exceptionally poor”.
• Boaz Weinstein: the New York hedge fund manager taking on UK trusts
To oust Potts, though, would be a monumental error.
