Veteran fund manager Max Ward has turned the clock back a decade with a big bet on housebuilders driving returns from his £190million Independent Investment Trust.

The sector accounted for almost a quarter of the trust’s value at the recent half year, following a two-thirds rise in its value from £28m to £47m over the previous six months and helped latterly by the general election result.

Yet it was the sector which helped fuel a spectacular crash in the trust’s value in 2007, after it had climbed to the same value it is today.

Mr Ward broke a 15-year reticence on talking about his creation , telling The Herald: “Over the last 18 months it’s déjà vu, we are back with a very big position in housebuilding.”

The former Baillie Gifford star founded the trust in 2000 after he stepped down as manager of Scottish Mortgage at the age of 50, and attracted over £50m from friends and supporters. His own stake is now worth £17.5m, while that of chairman and former colleague Douglas McDougall has risen to £28.6m, and Sir Angus Grossart holds shares worth £7.9m.

At the outset Mr Ward said he would weight the trust heavily in just three sectors led by housebuilding, and after six years the wealthy backers had seen their shares treble in value as the bets paid off.

In 2005 the trust made 26 per cent and in 2006 another 34per cent, as its stake in housebuilders grew from its original £13m to £46m despite £13m of sales, a quarter of its then £187m value.

But in 2007 a perfect storm hit the portfolio, as its holdings in banks, Canadian oil, and retail stocks joined the housing sector in plummeting to earth.

Mr Ward had held 3.5per cent of the trust in Northern Rock, 5per cent in Persimmon, and more than 10per cent in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB.

Independent’s shares crashed from 325p to 200p - though shareholders had still doubled their money since 2000.

The trust lost 35 per cent in 2008, but made 35 per cent in 2009, and could still boast a compound return of 10per cent a year since launch, against 2.2per cent for the all-share index.

The past five years have seen its net asset value (NAV) advance by 87per cent and share price by 113per cent, against 66per cent for the global growth sector, which it also beats on all other time periods.

On the risks this time around, Mr Ward said: “We have never made any attempt to pretend that if things go badly, with our very significant positions it is going to have a big impact on our NAV.”

But he is candid about the trust’s big setback. “Where I really went astray in 2007 was paying too little attention to debt levels and cash generation, I also failed entirely to see the banking crisis coming – we have no exposure to banking at the moment.”

Mr Ward went on: “ The great majority of our portfolio is in highly cash-generative businesses, many of them have no debt on their balance sheet at all. I think we are better placed to withstand a perfect storm.”

His favourite sector has not let him down. “Unique in my experience is the extraordinarily favourable conditions in the land market, there is a plentiful supply of land at very attractive prices and I have never known that situation to last for anything like so long as it has done over the last few years. I think the outlook for housebuilding earnings and dividends is very bright.”

On the past 15 years at Baillie Gifford, where he was succeeded as Scottish Mortgage manager by James Anderson, Mr Ward said: “I am thrilled at looking at what they have achieved since I left.”

He said his immediate ambition at the age of 65 was to outlive his father “who died in full harness at the age of 70”. He added: “I love what I do and will carry on doing it for as long as I am allowed to.”