Woodford fund to be wound up

15 October 2019 - You may have seen in the national press that the Woodford Equity Income fund is to be wound up. 

Commenting on the news Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea Financial Services, said:

“Very little detail is available as yet this morning. Link, the ACD, appears to have made the decision without much consultation with Woodford Investment Management, and the timing does seem a little odd and out of the blue – especially with Brexit possibly just days away.

“At the end of the day, the most important thing is, whether this is a better outcome for investors? Link suggests that investors will get their money back faster than waiting for the fund to reopen, but I’m not convinced that is the case - December had been earmarked for a re-opening of the fund.

“This action also makes Woodford a forced seller of all stocks – stocks that the market place and short-sellers are all aware of. It may well mean that less money is returned to investors, so the jury is still out on this one.

“My other concern is what happens with Woodford Income Focus and its investors. It’s all a mess and, frankly, I don’t think this is a good outcome for investors at all. 

“More clarity from Link is required and the regulator needs to be on the ball today, this week, this month, to make sure that investors don’t get hurt any more than they have already.”