Woodford under the spotlight

NEIL Woodford will today be forced to defend his struggling investment empire.

In his half-yearly performance update for Woodford Patient Capital Trust, the 59year old is expected to insist he is committed to his long-term investing approach.

Shares in Patient Capital have halved in value since January and the trust trades at a 35pc discount to the underlying value of the assets it holds.

Woodford’s performance is overseen by an independent board which is now under pressure to axe the fund manager. Woodford has been criticising for collecting £7.8m in fees since savers were frozen out from his flagship Equity Income fund on June 3.