Woodford fund falls 13% since June gating and remains shuttered
The Woodford Equity Income fund (WEIF) will remain closed for a further 28 days, its authorised corporate director Link Fund Solutions confirmed today.
In its fourth update since the fund was suspended on 3 June, Link said "it remains in the best interests of all investors for the suspension of dealings to continue."
It added it had communicated the decision, taken in conjunction with the fund's depositary, Northern Trust Global Services SE, to the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
In its fourth update since the fund was suspended on 3 June, Link Fund Solutions said "it remains in the best interests of all investors for the suspension of dealings to continue."
Link added that it continues to "monitor progress of the repositioning of the fund's portfolio against the December timeline" for the reopening of the fund.
Fund manager Neil Woodford has been busy selling down his holdings in less liquid stocks and buying bigger, more liquid holdings.
Woodford Investment Management noted in a statement that 84% of the proceeds from share sales made since suspension have been reinvested into FTSE 100 companies. These include British American Tobacco, BT and International Consolidated Airlines.
Woodford added: "We are very sorry for the continued suspension and understand the concern it will be causing investors. We remain fully committed to getting the fund into a position that delivers the best possible outcomes for our investirs - for those who wish to withdraw their money from the fund when it re-opens and for those who wish to stay."
Since investors have been locked into WEIF, the value of their investment has sunk by 12.83% to 20 September, Link added. Its comparative index, the FTSE All-Share, has gained 4.29% in value over the same period.
Woodford blamed its underperformance in September on the halving in the valuation of healthcare company Benevolent AI after a Singapore-based wealth fund took a large stake in the business.
Woodford has most recently been criticised by Peter Hargreaves, the co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown, for not being truthful with the investment platform.
This article was first published by Investment Week, a sister title to International Investment
