British investment manager Lindsell Train has slashed its ownership stake in Manchester United by 20% in the latest quarter, according to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission Thursday evening.
Lindsell Train, a Warren Buffett-loving manager of some $21 billion in mutual and closed-end fund assets, reported it held 6.37 million shares of the famed U.K. soccer organization as of Sept. 30. That’s down 20.4% from more than 8 million shares at the end of June. The SEC requires institutional fund managers to report changes to their holdings of U.S. stocks quarterly. Manchester United is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The fund manager still controls nearly 12% of the equity of United, making it the second-largest outside shareholder of the Red Devils. Chicago fund manager Ariel Investments is the largest with 8.3 million shares, or 15%. Club insiders own more: Jim Ratcliffe owns a quarter of the common stock, while the Glazer family controls the club with a separate class of shares.
Lindsell Train started amassing its stake in Manchester United in 2017, eventually holding 11.6 million shares by mid-2020. Its fund managers have a self-described “languid” trading style that takes inspiration from Buffett, preferring to build and hold positions over time in high-conviction investments.
The reduction of the asset manager’s position in the soccer team may not reflect a change of belief in the long-term prospects for the Red Devils. Lindsell Train has been suffering from strong outflows of cash due to underperformance. The firm’s assets under management dropped nearly 15% in the year ended June primarily from investor withdrawals, according to a report posted on the Association of Investment Companies, a U.K. organization.
