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* LF Woodford Equity Income Fund to be wound up
* BlackRock to sell off listed assets
* PJT Partners to continue to sell illiquid assets
(Recasts, adds detail, background, quotes from financial
advisors, investors and the FCA; updates shares)
By Simon Jessop, Sinead Cruise and Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Neil Woodford has been ousted
from his flagship LF Woodford Equity Income Fund which will be
shut down to pay back investors whose money has been trapped
since June.
Trading in the now 3 billion pound ($3.8 billion) fund
managed by Woodford, one of Britain's most high-profile money
managers, was suspended four months ago after poor performance
led to an increase in demand from clients to take their money
back.
At the heart of Woodford's troubles was the scale of his
holdings in unlisted or illiquid assets, which have become a
focal point for the UK regulator in subsequent weeks -
especially as Woodford continued to charge investors management
fees.
Despite Woodford trying to sell its illiquid holdings ahead
of a planned December fund reopening, administrator Link Fund
Solutions (LFS) told investors the process had not gone as
planned.
As such, Link said the fund risked an extended suspension in
December, potentially leading to unequal treatment of investors.
"Whilst progress has been made in relation to repositioning
the Fund's assets, this has unfortunately not been sufficient to
allow reasonable certainty as to when the repositioning would be
fully achieved and the Fund could be re-opened," Link said.
Neil Woodford, in a separate statement, firmly rejected the
move to shut the fund and oust him as manager.
"This was Link's decision and one I cannot accept, nor
believe is in the long-term interests of LF Woodford Equity
Income fund investors."
A source close to Woodford told Reuters that Link's decision
was a "complete surprise" and the manager had only learnt of
Link's intention to close the fund late on Monday.
The Financial Conduct Authority said it "welcomed the
removal of uncertainty" provided by Link's decision to shut the
fund.
It "means investors should receive some of their money back
sooner than had the fund remained suspended for a longer
period," the regulator said.
Woodford will cease to be the fund's investment manager with
immediate effect and its assets will be split into two
portfolios, LFS said in a statement.
BlackRock Advisors will take charge of selling the
fund's listed assets while PJT Partners will continue with its
previously agreed role in helping to sell the fund's illiquid
assets, Link said. PJT declined to comment.
The winding up of the LF Woodford Equity Income Fund - which
will be stripped of Woodford's name - will begin on Jan. 17,
2020, Link said, when investors should receive an initial
payment.
A spokeswoman for BlackRock said it would "seek to maximise
value for investors, balancing the need for a timely return of
capital with the challenges of the illiquidity profile of the
portfolio".
Stocks in the fund, as per the last portfolio data published
in April, include housebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Barratt
Developments and subprime lender Provident Financial
Group.
FALLEN STAR
Darius McDermott, managing director of financial adviser
Chelsea Financial Services, described the situation as "a mess"
and the closure of the fund will make it "a forced seller of all
stocks".
Oxford-based Woodford made his name at Invesco Perpetual in
part after famously avoiding the collapse of the tech bubble at
the turn of the century as well as banks ahead of the financial
crisis.
After more than two decades at Invesco, he set up his own
eponymously titled firm in 2014, quickly amassing billions in
mostly retail investor assets, much of it from investment
platform Hargreaves Lansdown, which continued to back
the troubled fund right up to its suspension.
At its peak the fund managed more than 10 billion pounds.
Shares in Neil Woodford's separate listed fund Woodford
Patient Capital Trust (WPCT), which shares some of the
same holdings as the suspended fund, slid to a record low at the
open on Tuesday, and by 0910 GMT were trading down 8%.
Wealth manager Alan Steel, a long-term Woodford investor,
told Reuters he had discussed the potential merits of
liquidating the fund with the fund manager at a private meeting
"months ago".
"It would have been better than giving up now after all the
hassle investors like me, my children and my grandchildren have
endured," Steel said, adding that he had been well rewarded by
Woodford’s investment approach over the past 30 years.
($1 = 0.7904 pounds)
(Editing by Susan Fenton)
