Fundsmith boom nets founder Terry Smith £12m windfall

Fund manager Terry Smith’s Fundsmith increased profits to a record £21 million last year as he pocketed a £12 million windfall.

The stock picker, who has a sizeable fanbase of retail investors, runs nearly £16 billion of savings through the Fundsmith group he founded in 2010.

The group bolstered revenue to £122.7 million from £81.7 million for the year ending March 2018, according to financial accounts.

The company’s flagship Fundsmith Equity Fund was up 7.3% over the same period.

The partnership’s five members —Smith, chief operating officer Mark Laurence, finance chief Simon Godwin and two corporate entities — shared profits of £20.8 million.

The member with the highest entitlement, thought to be Smith, received £11.9 million, increased from £8 million last year.

Last year Fundsmith broke the record for the largest investment trust debut after raising more than £800 million for a listed vehicle.

Smith, 65, is well known in the City for his love of boxing and attracts hundreds of investors to hear him speak at the Fundsmith AGM.

He moved to Mauritius in 2014 to escape the “noise” of London’s financial community.