A Schroders’ equities fund has bought about a £135m stake in St James’s Place, after Lloyds Banking Group said it planned to reduce its ownership in the wealth manager.

Lloyds said yesterday it had employed Bank of America Merrill Lynch to sell down a roughly 20% stake in St James's Place, which would raise £520m. Richard Buxton, head of UK equities at Schroders, led the purchase of a significant stake in the share sale, worth about £135m, according to a person close to this deal. Schroders' stake amounts to an approximate 5% holding in St James's Place.