Neil Woodford makes a comeback

masonic

LHW99 said:

Thought they said this new vehicle will be Jersey registered - so totally different

Perhaps there won't be a need for that for much longer, and if UK listed perhaps it could pay a Brexit dividend.

Prism

The only investing mistake he made was putting illiquid stocks in the main income fund and it sounds like he won't be doing the again. The bigger marketing mistake was continuing to charge a fee when the fund was locked and now not sounding very sorry for the mess. Saying that, some people will access any new proposition on whether they thing he can make them money and that will dictate future success with this new fund idea.

masonic

Prism said:

The only investing mistake he made was putting illiquid stocks in the main income fund and it sounds like he won't be doing the again. The bigger marketing mistake was continuing to charge a fee when the fund was locked and now not sounding very sorry for the mess. Saying that, some people will access any new proposition on whether they thing he can make them money and that will dictate future success with this new fund idea.

Do you not think believing Industrial Heat was a credible investment was a serious investing mistake?

aroominyork

Prism said:

The only investing mistake he made was putting illiquid stocks in the main income fund and it sounds like he won't be doing the again.

I don't agree. He also focused on biotech where there is no evidence he was an expert and it seems he plans to carry on doing so. According to The Times he "will focus on companies that will develop into the “the likes of Immunocore, Kymab, Synairgen, Nanopore”." 

In the same article he is quoted saying "I don’t think I’m qualified to do anything else." Well, Neil, there are lots of govt apprenticeships around. Maybe you should start afresh.

Thrugelmir

Money_Grabber13579 said:

Surely with such a tarnished reputation, he'll struggle to attract investors, even if it is limited to professional investors only?

Love him or hate him. He has the network and understanding to get another venture off the ground. Good luck to him. The UK needs people that raise capital for start up ventures. 

Money_Grabber13579

aroominyork said:

Prism said:

The only investing mistake he made was putting illiquid stocks in the main income fund and it sounds like he won't be doing the again.

I don't agree. He also focused on biotech where there is no evidence he was an expert and it seems he plans to carry on doing so. According to The Times he "will focus on companies that will develop into the “the likes of Immunocore, Kymab, Synairgen, Nanopore”." 

In the same article he is quoted saying "I don’t think I’m qualified to do anything else." Well, Neil, there are lots of govt apprenticeships around. Maybe you should start afresh.

Maybe he should consider a job in cyber!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/business-54505841

Prism

masonic said:

Prism said:

The only investing mistake he made was putting illiquid stocks in the main income fund and it sounds like he won't be doing the again. The bigger marketing mistake was continuing to charge a fee when the fund was locked and now not sounding very sorry for the mess. Saying that, some people will access any new proposition on whether they thing he can make them money and that will dictate future success with this new fund idea.

Do you not think believing Industrial Heat was a credible investment was a serious investing mistake?

Industrial heat in the income fund yes definitely a mistake. Industrial heat in the patient capital trust no. Most of these risky startup's will probably go nowhere but there is a chance that a select few will rocket. That is the premise of that kind of investment trust. Whether Woodford was any good at this kind of investment is another matter but good or not doesn't make it a mistake in my opinion. Anyone who bought the trust had full capability to make their own mind up, like any trust, if they thought Woodford could cut it as an early startup VCT style investor. I didn't know, and therefore didn't invest. Industrial Heat as an investment was likely to fail but that doesn't make it a mistake to try.

Prism

aroominyork said:

Prism said:

The only investing mistake he made was putting illiquid stocks in the main income fund and it sounds like he won't be doing the again.

I don't agree. He also focused on biotech where there is no evidence he was an expert and it seems he plans to carry on doing so. According to The Times he "will focus on companies that will develop into the “the likes of Immunocore, Kymab, Synairgen, Nanopore”." 

In the same article he is quoted saying "I don’t think I’m qualified to do anything else." Well, Neil, there are lots of govt apprenticeships around. Maybe you should start afresh.

A mistake implies he did something wrong rather than simply not being good at something. Starting an investment trust and investing in stuff he didn't know much about might be considered the later. We will never likely know how right or wrong he was now but thats because he wasn't given long enough to prove it.

Nobody likely knew if the Baillie Gifford team were any good at identifying value in unlisted companies in the first few years either? When I invested in Chrysalis I waited for a year as the managers at Merian had little experience in private equity. In fact one of their holdings has already folded within 2 years of the initial investment and that is to be entirely normal. I wouldn't be surprised if more than half of the holdings collapse or never make it to IPO.

masonic

Prism said:

masonic said:

Prism said:

The only investing mistake he made was putting illiquid stocks in the main income fund and it sounds like he won't be doing the again. The bigger marketing mistake was continuing to charge a fee when the fund was locked and now not sounding very sorry for the mess. Saying that, some people will access any new proposition on whether they thing he can make them money and that will dictate future success with this new fund idea.

Do you not think believing Industrial Heat was a credible investment was a serious investing mistake?

Industrial heat in the income fund yes definitely a mistake. Industrial heat in the patient capital trust no. Most of these risky startup's will probably go nowhere but there is a chance that a select few will rocket. That is the premise of that kind of investment trust. Whether Woodford was any good at this kind of investment is another matter but good or not doesn't make it a mistake in my opinion. Anyone who bought the trust had full capability to make their own mind up, like any trust, if they thought Woodford could cut it as an early startup VCT style investor. I didn't know, and therefore didn't invest. Industrial Heat as an investment was likely to fail but that doesn't make it a mistake to try.

Industrial Heat was so obviously a sham to anyone with even a fundamental understanding of the science. It should not have passed even the most rudimentary due diligence. It was one of Woodford's biggest investments in the trust. This is far worse than, say, Alexander Darwall's major investment in Wirecard, because in theory Wirecard could have been telling the truth about their accounts. Industrial Heat's claims could not have been truthful, even in theory, yet Woodford backed them even after it was established the experiments could not be reproduced.

[Deleted User]

Part of Woodford Funds’ success was his lofty reputation, so when he let it be known that he was investing in a small company, the price would rise. Full public disclosure of all investments helped, until the charm reversed.

The names dropped in the Telegraph article suggest that Woodford’s backers are already invested in these companies.