JOB CURTIS IN FOCUS: TAYLOR WIMPEY

This is a great t housebuilder, , which pays 4.6pc in dividends and d has suggested it would pay a special dividend of 6.4pc. 4pc.

It operates nationwide, and nd as a country we have fairly full employment emp and low interest interes rates, with lots of people peo renting, or living with w parents, who want wan to get on the housing housi ladder. We have hav about 1.9pc invested inves and it will w produce a pretty p good return.

yet Vodafone and other operators have not benefited much. It is an immensely frustrating stock, and it goes back to the dynamics of the industry. There is a lot of competition and regulation across Europe. Perhaps I should have seen that a bit more clearly.

We bought the shares for £28m and they are now worth about £24m, so it’s not been a disaster, but it’s been a very irritating investment.

DO YOU HAVE YOUR OWN MONEY IN THE FUND?

Yes I do, and it is worth about £960,000.

HOW ARE YOU COMPENSATED?

I am on a salary, but I also get a bonus depending on how well the fund performs.

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN IF NOT A FUND MANAGER?

I wanted to be a journalist. I got a job at a local newspaper, but then I went travelling around Asia and came back with a bit of an overdraft.

In the end, I saw an opening at a stockbroking firm and thought I’d try that and then move into financial journalism.

But I found the stock market so interesting that I never pursued the journalism side.