Woodford Investment Management blocked redemptions from equity income fund

Discussion in 'Wall St. News' started by Eli Stern, Jun 4, 2019.

  1. The UK's equivalent of David Tepper, has blocked redemptions from his £3.7bn equity income fund after serial underperformance led to an investor exodus, "inflicting a serious blow to the reputation of the UK’s highest-profile fund manager."


    The freeze on redemptions, exactly five years after Woodford opened his eponymous fund management group, underlines his increasingly precarious position. It follows a steady stream of investor outflows, which have occurred each month for two years, with the fund shrinking by two-thirds to £3.7bn since a peak of £10.2bn in May 2017.

    The severity of this latest hit to the hedge fund industry cannot be underscored enough. The FT quoted a veteran fund manager who has known Woodford for more than 20 years, who said that "this is one of the bigger events for the UK asset management industry of the last decade. A bonfire of reputation and a terrible moment for investor confidence."
     
    murray t turtle likes this.
  2. zdreg

    zdreg

    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48506032
    Top stockpicker Neil Woodford suspends flagship fund
    JUNE 04, 2019
    Fund manager Neil Woodford

    One of the UK's most high profile stockpickers has suspended trading in his largest fund as rising numbers of investors ask for their money back.

    Neil Woodford said after "an increased level of redemptions", investors would not be allowed to "redeem, purchase or transfer shares" in the fund.

    Investors have withdrawn about £560m from the fund over the past four weeks.

    However, it was a request from Kent County Council to withdraw £250m that led to the suspension.

    The council was unavailable for comment.

    A stockpicker - or fund manager - analyses the potential of different stocks to try to decide whether or not they will make a good investment.

    'Liquid investments'
    At its peak, the Woodford Equity Income fund managed £10.2bn worth of assets, such as local authority pension funds.

    However, it now manages £3.7bn, according to the financial services and research firm Morningstar.

    Mr Woodford's firm, Woodford Investment Management, is also the biggest investor in Kier Group, the construction and services group which on Monday warned on profits, sending its shares crashing 41%.

    It is understood that the fall in Kier's share price is not connected to the decision to suspend trading in the Woodford Equity Income fund.

    The firm said the suspension would give it "time to reposition the element of the fund's portfolio invested in unquoted and less liquid stocks, in to more liquid investments".

    The Financial Conduct Authority, the city watchdog, said: "The FCA is aware of this situation and in contact with the firms involved to ensure that actions undertaken are in the best interests of all the fund's investors."

    • Neil Woodford scraps bonus pay at his investment firm
    • Neil Woodford: The man who can't stop making money
    Daniel Godfrey, an adviser to fund management groups, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Neil Woodford was "one of the finest fund managers that Britain's ever produced, although clearly he is having a dark and terrible moment."

    He believes Mr Woodford could bounce back from this blow.

    "There could be a new dawn and it's not necessarily the end," he said.

    "It's clearly a very dark and difficult moment for Neil Woodford and his business and there may well have to be a hit to valuations to get rid of some of the unlisted holdings. But from there it'll still be probably a reasonably big fund.

    "It could well be the case that in five years' time, we're looking at it and anyone who bought when it reopens will have had a great performance."

    Who is Neil Woodford?
    Mr Woodford launched his own fund five years ago this month, with its corporate headquarters in Oxford.

    In its first year, it gave investors a return of 18% on their money, compared with an average rise of only 2% on the London Stock Exchange at the time.

    However, after the figures were released he warned: "It's far too early to conclude that the fund's strategy has worked."

    Before that, the 59-year-old had worked as part of the UK equities team at investment managers Invesco Perpetual for more than 26 years.

    He was appointed a CBE for his services to the economy in 2013.

    Analysis
    By Dominic O'Connell, Today programme business presenter

    Thanks to the banking crisis a decade ago, we know what a "liquidity" crisis looks like. When a bank's customers all want their money back at the same time, it fails; no modern lender holds enough reserves to cope with the outflow.

    Neil Woodford's problems are a fund-management version of that old-fashioned bank run. Investors in the Woodford Equity Income fund have been asking for their money back at a rapid rate - about £10m a week. Unlike a bank, the fund has all the money - but it is invested in a series of companies.

    To come up with the cash at once, the fund would be forced into a fire sale, with the result that investors would almost certainly get back less - much less - than they put in.

    The situation has been exacerbated by Woodford's choice of investments - many of the public companies, like Kier, Circassia and Purplebricks, have turned out to be dogs, while about 10% of the fund is in non-quoted companies, whose shares are not listed on a public stock exchange.

    Selling those shares can be difficult and time-consuming, so the fund has decided to stop the rot and end withdrawals. We do not know when they will resume; while the gates are up, the fund's management will be scrabbling to raise cash.

    The big question now is what next for Woodford?

    People invested with him for one reason - his reputation as a canny stockpicker who was happy to defy market convention and produced better-than-average results.

    If that reputation is shot - and on top of that he has stopped people from accessing their money - then the reason to choose him over his rivals has been lost.

    Are you a Woodford Equity Income fund investor? Share your stories. Email

    Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

    Daniel Godfrey, an adviser to fund management groups, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Neil Woodford was "one of the finest fund managers that Britain's ever produced, although clearly he is having a dark and terrible moment."

    He believes Mr Woodford could bounce back from this blow.

    "There could be a new dawn and it's not necessarily the end," he said.

    "It's clearly a very dark and difficult moment for Neil Woodford and his business and there may well have to be a hit to valuations to get rid of some of the unlisted holdings. But from there it'll still be probably a reasonably big fund.

    "It could well be the case that in five years' time, we're looking at it and anyone who bought when it reopens will have had a great performance."

    Who is Neil Woodford?
    Mr Woodford launched his own fund five years ago this month, with its corporate headquarters in Oxford.

    In its first year, it gave investors a return of 18% on their money, compared with an average rise of only 2% on the London Stock Exchange at the time.

    However, after the figures were released he warned: "It's far too early to conclude that the fund's strategy has worked."

    Before that, the 59-year-old had worked as part of the UK equities team at investment managers Invesco Perpetual for more than 26 years.

    He was appointed a CBE for his services to the economy in 2013.

    Analysis
    By Dominic O'Connell, Today programme business presenter

    Thanks to the banking crisis a decade ago, we know what a "liquidity" crisis looks like. When a bank's customers all want their money back at the same time, it fails; no modern lender holds enough reserves to cope with the outflow.

    Neil Woodford's problems are a fund-management version of that old-fashioned bank run. Investors in the Woodford Equity Income fund have been asking for their money back at a rapid rate - about £10m a week. Unlike a bank, the fund has all the money - but it is invested in a series of companies.

    To come up with the cash at once, the fund would be forced into a fire sale, with the result that investors would almost certainly get back less - much less - than they put in.

    The situation has been exacerbated by Woodford's choice of investments - many of the public companies, like Kier, Circassia and Purplebricks, have turned out to be dogs, while about 10% of the fund is in non-quoted companies, whose shares are not listed on a public stock exchange.

    Selling those shares can be difficult and time-consuming, so the fund has decided to stop the rot and end withdrawals. We do not know when they will resume; while the gates are up, the fund's management will be scrabbling to raise cash.

    The big question now is what next for Woodford?

    People invested with him for one reason - his reputation as a canny stockpicker who was happy to defy market convention and produced better-than-average results.

    If that reputation is shot - and on top of that he has stopped people from accessing their money - then the reason to choose him over his rivals has been lost.

    Are you a Woodford Equity Income fund investor? Share your stories. Email

    Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

    • WhatsApp: +44 7555 173285
    • Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay
    • Text an SMS or MMS to 61124 or +44 7624
     
  3. Which makes me wonder in what kind of illequid asset this fund invested in that they cannot liquidate positions to meet redemption requests...

     
  4. tonyf

    tonyf

    They are all for sale if you are interested and willing to sign an NDA
     
  5. It is pretty shortsighted of a fund to invest in highly illiquid assets and not stipulate minimum notification periods (that match with how long liquidations may take) prior to redemption payouts in each contract from the very beginning.

    Blocking redemptions is close to highway robbery given the high likelihood that those invested assets keep on losing value and investors have no other choice than seeing their investments further deteriorate.

     
  6. tonyf

    tonyf

    The strategy was actually made clear in the offering memorandum (called prospectus in the UK). The fund is allowed to invest in pre-ipo situations. Problem is that only 1 out of 10 investments played out well (sold to IP Concepts)
     
  7. Sure, that is about the probability of all pre-ipo situations. You actually make my point, if it was made clear in the prospectus, which I believe it was (otherwise the issue at hand was a betrayal of fiduciary duty), then investors should be able to trust that the lockup period that the fund stipulated in the prospectus should be sufficient. That suddenly investors are unable to withdraw beyond the previously agreed lockup periods and notification periods is unethical at the very least and grounds to law suits.