Woodford Funds latest?

tigerspill

Hi,
I was just wondering if anyone has the latest on the winding up of the problematic Woodford funds.
I still have a small holding and am wondering when it might be closed out with what ever remaining investment converted to cash (if any).  Or is there a tentative timeline for closing this out?

MK62

Pretty much all Link Fund Solutions are saying is...

"Due to the nature of the Fund’s remaining assets and our commitment to achieving the best outcome for investors it is possible that the wind up of the Fund may not be completed by the end of 2022."

.......and they will issue a further update on 31 July 2022 (or earlier if the final payment is ready earlier than this)...

Not ideal really......the saga will have been dragging on for 3 years next month, and while investors should have had the bulk of their money returned by now (or rather the bulk of what was left), it seems they have no option but to wait for the rest, and it will be returned when Link see fit.

tigerspill

MK62 said:

Pretty much all Link Fund Solutions are saying is...

"Due to the nature of the Fund’s remaining assets and our commitment to achieving the best outcome for investors it is possible that the wind up of the Fund may not be completed by the end of 2022."

.......and they will issue a further update on 31 July 2022 (or earlier if the final payment is ready earlier than this)...

Not ideal really......the saga will have been dragging on for 3 years next month, and while investors should have had the bulk of their money returned by now (or rather the bulk of what was left), it seems they have no option but to wait for the rest, and it will be returned when Link see fit.

Thank you.
Thankfully I only have a couple of hundred quit tied up.

granta

I only have a tiny holding too but wondered what would happen if I transferred out from my current platform? Would it just be moved in specie or do I have to wait until the whole thing is resolved before doing a transfer out?

masonic

granta said:

I only have a tiny holding too but wondered what would happen if I transferred out from my current platform? Would it just be moved in specie or do I have to wait until the whole thing is resolved before doing a transfer out?

In theory it could be transferred in specie. In practice, I don't know if such transfers are taking place. Best to clarify up front as it would not be pleasant to be stuck mid-transfer for however long it takes to wind things up.

granta

masonic said:

granta said:

I only have a tiny holding too but wondered what would happen if I transferred out from my current platform? Would it just be moved in specie or do I have to wait until the whole thing is resolved before doing a transfer out?

In theory it could be transferred in specie. In practice, I don't know if such transfers are taking place. Best to clarify up front as it would not be pleasant to be stuck mid-transfer for however long it takes to wind things up.

Thanks masonic. Who would be best placed to answer this definitively - Link, my existing, or potential new provider? 
Agree, would be a pain to have the rest of the transfer scuppered by this so would rather wait until after July

masonic

granta said:

masonic said:

granta said:

I only have a tiny holding too but wondered what would happen if I transferred out from my current platform? Would it just be moved in specie or do I have to wait until the whole thing is resolved before doing a transfer out?

In theory it could be transferred in specie. In practice, I don't know if such transfers are taking place. Best to clarify up front as it would not be pleasant to be stuck mid-transfer for however long it takes to wind things up.

Thanks masonic. Who would be best placed to answer this definitively - Link, my existing, or potential new provider? 
Agree, would be a pain to have the rest of the transfer scuppered by this so would rather wait until after July

New provider should be able to confirm if they could accept the re-registration of the suspended fund, but it wouldn't hurt to check with both providers. If not, a transfer could still proceed without this fund if both providers would agree to a partial transfer. Chances are the big providers will have encountered this before and would be able to suggest a way forward.

Timbo29

Hi All,
I've been recieving e-mails from WoodFord claims at Leighday. so far I have let this run its course and waited for the fund to be wound up, but wondered if anyone had any success with getting additional compensation? 

Malthusian

Timbo29 said:

Hi All,
I've been recieving e-mails from WoodFord claims at Leighday. so far I have let this run its course and waited for the fund to be wound up, but wondered if anyone had any success with getting additional compensation? 

Some investors who were advised to invest in Woodford may have been compensated individually for bad advice.

(I did a quick search on the FOS website and found only one complaint for bad advice, which was upheld. However only claims that get all the way to the ombudsman stage are published. Those settled at adjudicator stage or by the business aren't published.

In that particular case, the client had 85% of his pension in Woodford. The adviser didn't tell him to switch out because they lost contact. Oops!)

As it stands nobody who invested in Woodford off their own bat has received compensation. The attempts by Leigh Day and co to sue Woodford, Link, HL, the butcher the baker and the candlestick maker are not likely to result in anyone getting compensation any time soon. If you have joined a group litigation I would forget about it as far as possible and treat any return as a nice windfall.

Aged

Malthusian said:

In that particular case, the client had 85% of his pension in Woodford. The adviser didn't tell him to switch out because they lost contact. Oops!)

When exactly was it that advisers were advised to advise their clients to move out of Woodford? PS sorry for all the 'advises'!

masonic

Aged said:

Malthusian said:

In that particular case, the client had 85% of his pension in Woodford. The adviser didn't tell him to switch out because they lost contact. Oops!)

When exactly was it that advisers were advised to advise their clients to move out of Woodford? PS sorry for all the 'advises'!

You can read the reasons behind the decision here, but essentially the adviser was moving other clients out of the fund into risk managed portfolio funds, and this client would probably also have been moved if they'd made sufficient effort to get in touch with him.

Regarding when advisers might be expected to advise clients to move, the fund was reclassified from the equity income sector to all companies sector in 2018, so this should have triggered a review, given the likely change in risk profile. See DRN-3331637 for an Ombudsman decision taking this stance.