Fund supervisor Nick Train shrugs off ‘indiscriminate’ software program selloff

Nick Train has shrugged off this week’s software stock rout and blasted it as an ‘indiscriminate sell off, even panic’.

The fund manager’s Finsbury Growth & Income Trust has been caught up in the sell-off in data and software stocks, following the launch of Anthropic’s new legal tool.

The new chatbot, which says it can automate legal work, casts doubt over whether older software and data analytics can keep up with faster-growing companies using artificial intelligence (AI).

Train holds some of the worst-affected UK-listed stocks in his trust, including the London Stock Exchange, Sage and Relx, which have seen share prices dip as much as 14 per cent this week.

Software companies like Relx have been caught off in a sell-off this week

As a result, FGIT shares have lost as much as six per cent this week, dipping as low as 729p, the lowest level in nearly six years. It has regained some of its losses and is now trading at 745p.

The star fund manager said he had ‘thought hard about the ramifications of emergent AI’ on his holdings, which he believes have an ‘opportunity’ based on AI tools using their data assets.

‘This is not a fantasy. All these companies are innovating and, crucially, growing more quickly as a result of their successful innovations.’

The fund manager, who has recently apologised for underperformance, said he was disappointed ‘that the share prices of the companies are saying we are wrong. An indiscriminate sell-off, arguably even a panic, has ensued.’

He added: ‘I have personally experienced panic before in my career, most notably through the Great Financial Crisis when there were true and imminent existential risks to financial institutions. I have to say, I do not register a similar sense of anxiety today, as regards our companies.’

Train doubled down on his investments saying that, bar their depressed share prices, recent AI developments ‘have increased our confidence’.

He highlighted Experian, whose shares plummeted as much as 10 per cent, where the bear case is ‘purely speculative. 

‘There appears to be much more evidence that AI will be a tailwind for future growth.’

Train noted that all of FGIT’s data, platform or software companies had recently launched buyback schemes.

‘Of course, they could be wrong to do so, but it is noteworthy that those who understand their businesses best see current developments in AI as making the companies more, rather than less valuable.’

Last month, Train apologised for the ‘dire’ performance of FGIT, which is the worst-performing UK equity income trust over one and five years.

In 2025, FGIT saw its net asset value per share fall 7.6 per cent and its share price lose 6 per cent, while the benchmark FTSE All Share rose 24 per cent over the year.

The trust does not hold stocks in the banking, energy and defence sectors, which have done well in recent months.