The new managers of Neil Woodford"s Income Focus fund are braced for a stampede to the exits when it reopens today following a near-four month suspension. Charles Luke and Thomas Moore of Aberdeen Standard Investments – who took control of the £258m fund in December following the implosion of Mr Woodford"s empire – insisted they are ready to handle mass withdrawals by customers after shifting money into low-risk firms with easy-to-sell stock. They have sold out of every investment owned under Mr Woodford bar three. Mr Luke said: "We don"t know what"s going to happen, but we"re ready." Income Focus was Mr Woodford"s second fund and he relinquished control after deciding to close his business after being sacked from running his flagship Equity Income fund following a string of bad bets. Equity Income is being wound up but following a major rescue effort at Income Focus, it is now ready to open its doors again. Mr Luke and Mr Moore have remained invested in just three stocks formerly held by Mr Woodford: Babcock International, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Vistry Group (formerly Bovis Homes). BAT remains a good investment, Mr Luke said, with the market too pessimistic about regulation in the tobacco sector. Babcock is a good quality business trading at a attractive price, he said. The managers were particularly keen to cut Mr Woodford"s exposure to the housing sector. Mr Luke said: "Before the fund was overly exposed to the British economy, especially the housing sector through companies like Purple Bricks, Barratt Developments and Royal Bank of Scotland. It was not responsible to have such a large exposure to one sector. "Diversification is key now. We do not want to be reliant on one sector for income or growth." Another big change was a reduction in the amount invested in smaller companies. Mr Woodford had 30pc of the fund invested in small caps, with all of this now removed and re-invested in larger stocks which can be sold in a hurry if investors demand their cash back. Mr Luke said this has made the fund less risky but hit investors" returns after the managers were forced to sell stakes at lower prices. Peer-to-peer lender Honeycomb Investment Trust was sold at discount and knocked some 0.5pc off the fund"s value. Despite the managers" changes the fund has lagged behind the FTSE All Share, a broad measure of the British stock market. It has dropped nearly 5pc so far in 2020 while the index is down 1pc. Mr Luke said some of this was due to their own stocks – TUI Group plummeted 22pc in January due to coronavirus –but some was also down to Mr Woodford"s picks such as Card Factory which has fallen 39pc this year. The manager said the portfolio overhaul is almost complete and the fund is now strongly positioned to provide growth and income. Some more internationally-exposed stocks have been added, including Coca-Cola Hellenic and emerging markets fund manager Ashmore.