Woodford Investment Management

Woodford Closing Down and How to Avoid Dud Managers

No sooner had I suggested that Neil Woodford should retire after his management company was fired from looking after the Woodford Equity Income Fund (see my personal blog article...

Woodford, FCA, Asset Management

Today the FT reveals that the FCA have launched an investigation in the Woodford Equity Income Fund. Last night in the Evening Standard, Anthony Hilton estimated that only about 200,000 people were invested in Woodford funds, and added "so why all the fuss". I think it is about trust. Most people in the UK do not trust business. For example, it does not help public levels of trust when Woodford takes a £36m dividend (from Woodford Investment Management Limited year end March 2018 ...

FT, 18 June 2019 – Critics call on Hargreaves to reveal executive’s Woodford stakes

“This is not caught by law, but it is certainly caught by moral imperative,” said Mark Northway, chairman at shareholder rights’ group ShareSoc. “Given [Mr Dampier’s] position in the eye of the storm, transparency is the only policy available to him.... https://www.ft.com/content/fc6cf624-9113-11e9-b7ea-60e35ef678d2  

FT, 11 June 2019 – FT published letter from ShareSoc Chairman Mark Northway

Why fund managers are willing to risk their reputations. https://www.ft.com/content/6061e8b8-894b-11e9-a028-86cea8523dc2    

Woodford Equity Income Fund Suspension – Analysis and Solutions

The business media is awash with analysis and comment on the closure of the Woodford Equity Income Fund to redemptions – meaning investors cannot take their money out, much to their dismay. I write as an innocent bystander as I have never held any of the Woodford managed funds. But I have not been totally unaffected by the problem of investors taking their money out, which has led to the suspension, because it has resulted in Woodford needing to sell some of ...

The New York Times, 5 June 2019 – Woodford Fund closure

The New York Times have printed a story about Woodford funds and quoted ShareSoc director Cliff Weight. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-woodford-im-suspension-investors/british-money-manager-woodfords-star-wanes-over-locked-fund-gate-idUKKCN1T52EJ

Will Neil Woodford Succeed?

How long do you give a fund manager before giving up on poor performance? This is the key question faced by investors in the funds run by Neil Woodford and his Woodford Investment Management company. Neil Woodford had a very successful record at Invesco – their High Income fund turned £10,000 into £230,000 over 25 years. In 2014 he departed to set up his own investment company and he attracted many followers to the new platform but the record since then has ...