US ‘activist fund’ increases its stake in Bank of Ireland

US FUND manager Harris Associates has increased its stake in Bank of Ireland to just over 7%.

Harris — which is based in Chicago and is recognised as being one of the leading so-called “activist funds”, which generally like to buy up enough stake holding in companies in order to get a say in the running of the firm — has been investing in Bank of Ireland for a little more than a year.

The company built up a 3% stake in October 2007 before increasing that stake to 5% in July of last year. Last November, Harris announced that it had upped its stake in the bank to more than 6%, adding that it was “a long-term value investor” in the bank.