Lansdowne sells Old Mutual short

Hedge fund Lansdowne Partners has continued to call share falls correctly after it emerged yesterday it had a short position in the Anglo-South African insurer Old Mutual on Wednesday, a day before the shares fell by almost 13 per cent.

The fall in price would have earned the US-based fund more than £1.2m in a single day on paper. Lansdowne earlier this week also disclosed it had a short position on life insurer Legal and General, making a potential profit of almost £1.5m on the company's 11 per cent drop on Monday.