Baroness Altmann Announced as Keynote Speaker for ShareSoc Woodford Webinar – 19th July

• Baroness Altmann, Consumer Finance champion, Member of the House of Lords and ex-Pensions Minister to speak at ShareSoc Woodford Webinar “The Cavalry is Coming” on 19 July at 4.30pm.
• Law firms Leigh Day and Harcus Parker joined forces and merged their claims via a Group Litigation Order (GLO*), announced on 15 June 2022.
• ShareSoc’s webinar on 19 July 2022 provides updates on progress, why the GLO is a big step forward and the impending deadline for joining a legal claim.
• Our Press Release provides further information.

CLICK HERE to register for the WEBINAR, more DETAILS AND TO JOIN THE WOODFORD CAMPAIGN (FREE)

1. Baroness Altmann will be the Keynote speaker: She is a former Pensions Minister, Consumer Finance champion, and now sits in the House of Lords. Baroness Altmann is a leading UK pensions expert, and politically independent, she champions ordinary people and social justice. She will give her views on the Woodford failures and the implications for people’s income in retirement when they lose a large part of their investment portfolio
2. Robin Powell, the noted financial commentator and consumer finance campaigner, has written extensively on the Woodford saga will give his assessment of what actually went wrong and provide an update on the latest developments.
3. A senior lawyer from Leigh Day will review the legal case against Link**, why application for a Group Litigation Order (GLO) is important and the next steps. These will include statements of case, disclosure, expert evidence, negotiation, case preparation, settlement or case trial, and the deadline for signing up.
4. Cliff Weight, ShareSoc Director and Woodford Campaign Leader, will review the 4 legal claims ongoing (and their merits), and the potential for other claims.
5. Q&A – Panel.

 Background: £1bn of savings were lost by investors in the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF). The FCA has spent more than three years investigating what went wrong and still hasn’t published any findings. It has, however, produced new guidance for Authorised Fund Managers, the role that Link was supposed to do and allegedly failed to do. There are at least 4 legal claims in varying stages of development: 2 against Link and 2 against Link and Hargreaves Lansdown. ShareSoc has endorsed the Leigh Day claim against Link in respect of WEIF investors.

These and other questions will be addressed in our webinar on July 19th, which will include a Q&A session with the speakers, chaired by ShareSoc Director, Mark Northway.

• What happens next?
• Can I reclaim my losses?
• Which claim should I join?
• Will Woodford be sued/ prosecuted/ fined/ held to account?
• Can this happen again?
• What really went wrong?
• What is changing/has changed to stop it happening again?

Press Coverage

There has been a huge amount of recent press driven by: the 3^rd anniversary of the Fund’s suspension; the Leigh Day/Harcus Parker GLO announcement; Harcus Parker submitting their claim; the Rutherford Heath and 4DPharma insolvencies; lots of stories about Neil Woodford himself; continuing slow FCA response and investigation; Link CEO resignation and RGL’s announcement of insurance regarding the Hargreaves Lansdown claim.

Recent articles quoting ShareSoc include:

• Investment Week, 15 June 2022, Leigh Day and Harcus Parker merge Woodford claims for ‘unified front’ against Link
• Citywire, 15 June 2022, Law firms join forces to battle Link over Woodford collapse
• The Times, 15 June 2022, Law firms plan united front in Woodford scandal legal battle

This is an official ShareSoc News Item written by Cliff Weight 

* A Group Litigation Order (GLO), is where the court consolidates all similar legal claims and deals with them as a single matter, avoiding complexity and confusion while reducing costs and court time.

** LINK was the Authorised Corporate Director for the Woodford Equity Fund. In effect they were the official operator of the fund and responsible for its actions, while investment strategy was largely devolved to Woodford Investment Management.