21 January 2020
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Neil Woodford's former flagship fund lost £150m on Friday as shares dropped almost 5% after administrator Link Fund Solutions wrote down the value of a number of unquoted stocks in the fund's last valuation before the wind-up.
Link Fund Solutions said the latest loss was due to an adjustment to the valuation of the unquoted companies in the portfolio. It did not state which of the portfolio's stocks had been marked down, The Telegraph reported.
Woodford Equity Income, now renamed LF Equity Income after Woodford's sacking as manager in October, fell 4.9% on Friday. That equates to a £150m loss, as assets slumped from £3.05bn to £2.9bn, according to Morningstar estimates.
This is yet another disappointment for the nearly 300,000 investors of the fund, who have suffered significant losses so far, with a fifth of their money wiped out since its suspension.
The Woodford debacle continues to have a reaching effect in the industry as Hargreaves Lansdown faces calls to repay more than £1m in fees paid by investors in its multi-manager funds, which allocate a total of £444m to the suspended Woodford Equity Income fund.
The platform waived annual fees of up to 0.45% on the suspended fund, following criticism of its decision to continue to promote it via its best buy list despite underperformance. However, it has continued to charge fees on its multi-manager fund range, which like other WEIF investors, is likely to see costly losses on its investment in the fund.
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