Woodford investors hit with further £10 million in charges

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Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.

Yesterday evening Link contacted investors with further details on today’s distribution from Neil Woodford’s former Equity Income Fund, detailing the charges being incurred as a result of the wind-up process and the fact the fund will move to weekly pricing.

“The new update from Link brings some additional insight in to the winding up process of the fund for investors, especially around the transaction costs involved and the frequency of pricing updates going forwards," says Ryan Hughes, Head of Active Portfolios at AJ Bell.

“It looks as if investors will be suffering around £10m of fees and costs to wind up the fund which will be seen as another kick in the teeth for investors who have already seen substantial losses on their investments.

“This update also gives an indication that Park Hill have made little progress on the selling down of the illiquid assets and, while unsurprising, this will be disappointing for investors. With no timescale being given on how long this element is likely to take, investors should brace themselves for a long wait for the remainder of their money.

“Link has also announced the fund price will now only be updated on a weekly basis rather than daily which reflects the reality that little will change in the portfolio and investors should watch the price carefully to see how it is impacted by any revaluation or sale of the remaining assets.

“This update from Link gives some insights to how they have reached this point and the process going forwards but it will be of little comfort to investors who still have money stuck in the fund.”

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice.


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Written by:
Ryan Hughes

Ryan Hughes, Investments Director - AJ Bell Investments
Ryan started his career in 1999 working for an independent financial adviser, progressing to become Head of Portfolio Management at an award-winning advisory firm. Ryan then joined a global asset management firm as a Fund Manager, where he oversaw more than £10bn of multi-asset portfolios and also sat on the investment and global asset allocation committees. After seven years, Ryan joined a small multi-asset boutique managing portfolios for clients all around the world, before joining AJ Bell in 2016 to help establish our investment capability and overseeing all investment research for AJ Bell. In 2022, Ryan was appointed as Head of Investment Partnerships with responsibility for managing bespoke portfolios tailored to specific adviser needs and then in 2023, Ryan was made Investments Director with oversight of AJ Bell’s investment capability.

Ryan is a member of the CFA UK Society, is frequently asked for his views in the press and on panel debates while also being recognised as one of the leading fund researchers in the UK.


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