Nick Train has been hit by a rush of withdrawals from his flagship investment trust after investors asked for £35m of their savings back.
Mr Train, who co-manages the £115m Lindsell Train Investment Trust (LTIT), had offered through the trust to buy up to a fifth of shares from savers who wanted to sell up.
The offer was swamped by savers looking to cash out, with the trust's investors asking to redeem nearly a third of shares.
The stampede reflects the poor performance of the trust under Mr Train's management. He was once regarded as a star fund manager but has struggled in recent years as several investments have gone awry.
The trust has acknowledged that the fund's performance has been "disappointing" in the last five years, with an annual return of minus 7.1pc.
Investors had been given the opportunity to offload their shares at a valuation well above the trust's market price.
Its shares traded at a hefty 17.7pc discount to its net asset value when the offer was announced in September.
However, the board offered to buy back up to a fifth of the trust's shares at just a 5pc discount, in an attempt to shrink the deficit.
Roger Lambert, the trust's chairman, said: "With more than two thirds of shareholders choosing not to tender their shares, we believe the outcome demonstrates continued confidence in the company's long-term investment proposition and its potential to deliver value over time."
The trust had offered to redeem four million shares. However, investors asked for 6.5 million shares back.
Because the redemption request was oversubscribed, most shareholders who wished to redeem will have only a portion of their request met.
The LTIT has just 16 holdings but also serves as a ramped-up bet on Mr Train himself and his buy-and-hold thesis, thanks to its position in his fund management company, which also manages a number of other trusts.
Those include Finsbury Growth & Income, which is among the worst-performing UK equity income trusts.
The trust's other investments include London Stock Exchange Group, Nintendo and a number of other companies that have varied widely in performance over the summer.
In its latest monthly report for the fund, Nintendo had gained 27pc. The shares were still well below their 2025 peak but others had dropped just as much.
Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company and home to Taylor Swift and BTS, fell by a quarter after its half-year results revealed a slowdown in streaming growth.
In its latest annual report, Mr Train apologised for the "most disappointing" performance in the company's 25-year history.
He added: "We evidently own a collection of out-of-favour shares, which are therefore underperforming, but that does not necessarily mean we own a collection of underperforming companies."
