Perpetual head of equities Matt Williams will step down as senior portfolio manager of the $5.8-billion Industrial Share Fund, of which he managed 50 per cent.

The measure was taken to give him more time to focus on his responsibilities as head of equities, a Perpetual spokesperson said.

After former Perpetual head of equities John Sevior left Perpetual - initially on sabbatical, but later permanently - in May last year, Williams took on the responsibility of managing 100 per cent of the $5.8-billion Australian Share Fund, 100 per cent of the $200-million Pure Value Fund and 50 per cent of the $5.8-billion Industrial Shares Fund.

The responsibility left him managing close to $9 billion in funds under management (FUM), as well as leading the 15-member equities team.

"If you look at our numbers at the end of the [2011 calendar] year, that amounted to well over 50 per cent of our total FUM in Australian equities," the spokesperson said.

"On top of that he had duties as a manager, because he was head of the equities team."

Williams will step down from the fund he has managed since 2002 on 1 April.

Senior analyst Vince Pezzullo will take over 30 per cent of the fund, while senior portfolio manager Charlie Lanchester will increase his responsibility from 50 per cent to 70 per cent.

Perpetual also announced yesterday that former Perpetual smaller companies portfolio manager Sean Cunningham had returned to the company after being on sabbatical since late 2010.

Cunningham, who led the Smaller Companies Fund for eight years, will now set up a new fund with a high-conviction yield strategy, which will look to invest in companies with high sustainable dividend ratios.