Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Customers warned of investment falls
FORMER star stockpicker Neil Woodford’s £3.5billion flagship fund is to be shut down.
Woodford’s name will also be dropped as its investment manager, in a further blow to his already battered reputation.
Withdrawals from the Woodford Equity Income Fund were suspended in June this year after a flood of investors took their money out.
The plan had been to reopen it in December.
But Link Fund Solutions, which runs the fund on Woodford’s behalf, said: “After careful consideration, the decision has now been taken not to reopen the fund and instead to wind it up as soon as practicable. This is with a view of returning cash to investors at the earliest opportunity.”
The size of the fund has crashed from about £10bn at its peak due to withdrawals and poor returns. Its remaining assets will now be sold, but Link warned customers the money raised “may be less than you originally invested”.
A fund manager, or stockpicker, analyses different stocks to decide which to invest others’ money in.
Woodford’s star status was earned during his time at Invesco Perpetual, but many of his more recent investments, including online estate agents Purplebricks and doorstep lender Provident Financial, have done badly. Lee Wild, head of equity strategy at Interactive Investor, says: “Neil Woodford and his team built a funds empire based on their performance at Invesco.
“This is a brutal warning that, much like in football management, if you don’t perform, you lose your job.
“It happens in the City every day of the week, but Woodford is easily the most high-profile victim in years.”