MW FCA fines Woodford and bans him from senior roles

By David Ricketts

The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Neil Woodford GBP5.8m for failures relating to the collapse of his flagship Equity Income fund in 2019.

The UK regulator has also fined Woodford Investment Management, the company he founded in 2014, GBP40m and banned the former star stock picker from holding senior manager roles and managing funds for retail investors.

The Woodford Equity Income fund, which at its peak managed more than GBP10bn, was managed by Woodford and Woodford Investment Management.

More than 300,000 investors were left trapped when the fund was suspended in June 2019 by administrator Link Fund Solutions.

The Equity Income fund saw assets dwindle to around GBP3.7bn and was liquidated four months later by Link following a liquidity crunch, sparked by a prolonged period of heavy outflows and poor performance.

The FCA said it concluded that between July 2018 and June 2019, Woodford Investment Management and Woodford made "unreasonable and inappropriate investment decisions".

"They disproportionately sold more liquid investments (those that are easier to sell) and bought less liquid ones over this period," the FCA said.

"This meant that at the time of suspension only 8% of the investments held by WEIF could be sold within seven days. Under rules in place at the time, investors should have been able to access their funds within four days."

The FCA said it concluded that Woodford held a "defective and unreasonably narrow understanding of his responsibilities".

"Despite his senior role, he did not accept that he had a responsibility to oversee the management of the fund's liquidity, including in interviews conducted by the FCA," the regulator said.

An expanded version of this story is available at FNLondon.com

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 05, 2025 05:45 ET (09:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.