‘I fear for my disabled wife’: How Woodford investors have been impacted

The fallout from former stock picker Neil Woodford’s collapsed investment fund has shaken the investment world and triggered an almighty spat between investor groups and the regulator.

Law firm Harcus Parker has called a proposed £230m redress scheme “misleading” and said it leaves investors out of pocket, the Woodford Campaign Group has accused the Financial Conduct Authority of acting in its own interests, and a group of MPs have taken aim at the regulator’s handling of the scandal.

The FCA for its part says the proposed payout is the best possible route for investors, and the fund’s administrator Link Fund Solutions says the scheme is the “best option available”.

But what do the individuals at the heart of the scandal think? City A.M. has seen a document offering a snapshot of their opinions of the payout and how the collapse has impacted their lives.

‘Appalling’

“The FCA does not appear to recognise that it has a duty of care towards investors,” said an investor who backed the Woodford Equity Income Fund through investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown.

“The FCA should be scrapped and replaced as it has brought the UK investment industry into disrepute. There should be a public enquiry.”

‘My wife could be left alone with no financial support’ 

“We had £213,000 invested in [Woodford Equity Income Fund]. After the winding up payments of £105,331 we have a loss of £107,722 plus an ongoing loss of return from that lost capital,” said one investor.

“My wife is younger than me and women generally live longer than men so it is likely that I will die first. We now have the worry that she will be left on her own, disabled and housebound, with significantly less money than we had planned for.”

‘Smoke screen’

“It is a very verbose document which was created to confuse investors and create a smoke screen of what they will actually receive if it is fully approved,” said an investor who lost £18,800 in the collapse.

“The [scheme of arrangement] always relies heavily on the FCA’s £298m which has no real foundation or credibility and does not reflect anything like the £940m losses since the fund closed. It also does not deal with any of the major issues with [the fund] and [its administrator] Link prior to the fund closing.”

‘Rigged’

“[The scheme] takes no account of the deception forced upon the investors,” wrote one Woodford investor who said their losses prevented them from accessing a mortgage.

“[It] refuses to guarantee a fair voice through an equitable voting agenda, refuses to acknowledge the institutional guilt, failings and malpractice of the [Woodford Equity Income Fund] and platforms who actively promoted and endorsed the fund even though it was failing, has refused to impose the full range of sanctions available against Link Fund Solutions.”

‘I could seriously do with this money now’

“As an ordinary working-class couple losing £15,000 means such a lot, especially now that my husband has passed away,” said another investor. “I could seriously do with this money now.”

A vote on the proposed payout for investors closes at 5pm today.