Woodford’s WEB OF INFLUENCE
How scandal-hit fund manager used his City network
THE scandal engulfing shamed money manager Neil Woodford has laid bare how he conducted millions of pounds worth of business through a close- knit web of associates.
Critics claim his use of this network has led to conflicts of interest and a failure to hold the 59-year-old to account as the fund’s performance slumped.
Small investors, whose cash is locked up in his flagship Equity Income fund, are paying the price. Here, we reveal the key players in the Woodford meltdown: ANTON BILTON MULTI- millionaire property mogul Bilton’s links to Neil Woodford go back at least 14 years.
While he was still working at asset management giant Invesco, Woodford backed the stock market float of Bilton’s Raven Property Group, which invests in the Russian market. He later stumped up cash when it was seeking to raise more capital.
The Equity Income fund also had a stake in Sabina Estates, a developer of luxury homes in Ibiza, where Bilton is a director.
And the pair have since worked together as Woodford sought to battle troubles at his empire.
It was with the help of Belasko Corporate Finance, in which Bilton has a minority stake, that Woodford successfully listed his shares in various companies on the Guernsey stock exchange. This week, Raven bought back the 12pc stake Mr Woodford held in it, providing him with £26m as he tries to raise money.
Bilton is married to model and actress Lisa Barbuscia and has an estimated fortune of £126m.
CRAIG NEWMAN
HE WAS appointed as Woodford’s right-hand man when the fund manager set out on his own in 2014. Newman, 48, is chief executive of Woodford Investment Management, which oversees the funds.
The pair worked together when they were at Invesco, but Newman is said to have left under a cloud when he resigned in 2012. He served as Invesco’s head of sales, but sources said he was facing disciplinary action for allegedly taking sales and client data. He denied any wrongdoing.
The two men now jointly own Woodford Investment Management, and have together been paid almost £100m over the past four years. Newman also borrowed £3m from the company as he launched a major building project at his lavish Oxfordshire home.
He took out the interest-free loan between March 2017 and March 2018, around the same time he got planning consent for a gatehouse with room for four cars. A spokesman for the firm insisted he spent the money on a tax bill rather than building work, and it has since been repaid.
SUSAN SEARLE
OXFORD University graduate Searle, 56, chairs Woodford Patient Capital, another of his funds that invests in small, risky businesses. Although it is separate from the closed equity income fund, its value has plunged.
Searle is unusual for a trust chairman as her career has been spent at start-ups. She has only held one other chairmanship, at Mercia Technologies, listed on the junior London Stock Exchange.
She sits on the boards of several companies that Woodford has invested in, prompting concerns about potential conflicts of interest. They include Mercia, gene editing firm Horizon Discovery and health company Benchmark Holdings. Searle quit as chairman of Mercia this week to devote more time to the Woodford crisis.
MARK DAMPIER
AS HEAD of research at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, Dampier was a key figure backing Woodford.
He oversees Hargreaves’ bestbuy list, now called the Wealth 50, which has featured the Equity Income fund since its launch – despite its poor performance over the last two years.
Dampier’s social media pages boast of sailing trips and skiing holidays. The 62-year- old, who with his wife Annette owns an enormous country home overlooking the River Dart in Devon, said in a note to Hargreaves customers just weeks before the crisis hit: ‘We think [Woodford’s] still got the skill to deliver excellent longterm performance.’
And in a move which angered investors who are unable to retrieve their savings, Dampier and his wife sold millions of shares in Hargreaves weeks before the company’s association with Woodford caused their price to tumble. The couple pocketed £5.6m.
Hargreaves only dropped Woodford’s fund from the Wealth 50 when dealings were suspended.
JON MOULTON
THE private equity veteran chairs the Guernsey-based International Stock Exchange, where Woodford listed his stakes in several privately owned companies to dodge City rules on risky assets.
Moulton, 68, came in for criticism after City Link, a courier business owned by his investment firm Better Capital, went bust on Christmas Eve in 2014.
He says he has never met Neil Woodford, and has only spoken to him once on the phone several years ago. But the pair share several business interests. Woodfordbacked litigation funder Burford Capital has formed a partnership with peer Manolete, which numbers Moulton among investors. Both businessmen were investors in digital challenger bank Atom.
Until 2017, Moulton’s deputy at the Guernsey stock exchange was Stephen Lansdown, co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown. Just weeks before the Woodford crisis hit, he sold more than £170m worth of Hargreaves Lansdown shares. It is understood Woodford has never met or spoken with Lansdown.
Woodford’s move to list stakes on the Guernsey stock exchange is being probed by the Financial Conduct Authority.