Tue, 05 Aug 2025

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 Former star fund manager and firm face £46m fine

Neil Woodford and his investment firm have been fined by the financial watchdog, after 300,000 people lost money when the fund collapsed.

* Former star fund manager Neil Woodford and his investment firm, Woodford Investment Management (WIM), face a total fine of almost £46m from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
* 300,000 people lost money when Woodford Equity Income Fund collapsed in 2019 after investors tried to withdraw their funds.
* The FCA has fined Mr. Woodford nearly £6m and banned him from holding senior manager roles and managing funds for non-professional investors.
* WIM has been fined £40m by the FCA, but the company says it "strongly disagrees" with the decision and intends to appeal.
* The FCA found that WIM and Mr. Woodford made "unreasonable and inappropriate investment decisions" between July 2018 and June 2019, which led to the fund's collapse.
* The watchdog said that at the time of suspension, only 8% of investments could be sold within seven days, compared to the expected four days.
* WIM claims that the true cause of investor losses was Link Fund Solutions' decision to liquidate the fund in October 2019.
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