FAILURES OF A FUND STAR

Neil Woodford’s flagship equity income fund is up just 0.6pc this year, against an 8.2pc rise in the FTSE All-Share index

A giant bet on drugmaker AstraZeneca went bad when shares dived 15pc in the firm’s biggest ever one-day fall in July after a major cancer drug trial failed

Woodford also backs pharma firm Synairgen, which tumbled 47pc in a day

He lost £326m on doorstep lender Provident Financial when shares dropped 70pc in a day – and has lost £580m in total

He took a hit last month when Sphere Medical Holding fell more than 80pc after saying it could run out of cash by next month

Investments in viral video company Brave Bison and tech business Allied Minds are down 64pc and 74pc respectively this year