Investors seek millions from Woodford fund collapse

Image source, Robin McConnachie

Robin McConnachie was unable to access money he had invested with Neil Woodford.

The retired City banker said he was shocked by the fund's collapse.

The administrators of the fund will be accused of failing to properly supervise the investments.

Link says it acted in accordance with the rules.

When Mr Woodford set up his own managed fund, he came with an impressive reputation.

By the time Mr Woodford left to start his own business 26 years later, a pension fund of £10,000 with him at the start of his career would have grown to £250,000.

People from all walks of life put money into the fund. The fund was able to manage more than $10 billion at one point.

Many investors withdrew their money as they became more concerned about the investments being made on their behalf. In four weeks, more than half a billion dollars was taken out.

Link froze the fund three years ago.

Daniel Kerrigan said that Link was in place to act as the ref. The fund went off the rails.

Link had a duty to investors to make sure the fund was managed prudently, according to lawyers from the firm. When the fund invested in unlisted start-ups instead of large, dividend-paying stocks, those duties were violated.

Link will defend the charges.

Link's main responsibility was to act in the best interests of all investors in the Woodford Equity Investment Fund, according to a Link spokesman.

Link takes this and its other responsibilities very seriously and considers that it has acted at all times in accordance with applicable rules, as well as in the best interests of all investors, and it will continue to do so.

The High Court will have to decide if Link was to blame for the fund's downfall. The litigation does not target Mr Woodford or his company.

Image source, Reuters

Some money was returned to investors after the fund's assets were sold.

The lawsuit could return the rest of the money that Mr McConnachie has received.

He decided to shift some of his money into his new venture after investing into Mr Woodford's fund.

He was seen as a high-flying fund manager. The new fund will be the same as the previous one, according to the prospectus.

He joined the lawsuit against them because he was so angry with Link.

Link should be held accountable for what they did or didn't do.

Neil Woodford apologized to The Daily Telegraph for what he had done.

He said he couldn't be sorry for the things he didn't do. I did not make the decision to close the fund. Those decisions were bad for investors and not mine.

Mr Woodford's new investment business has not been well received.

The fund's collapse has been the subject of an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority. The public interest in the scandal made it necessary for the financial watchdog to act quickly.

The investor who lost money is represented by HarcusParker. 1,500 of those are represented by the initial claim against Link.

Link is being sued by the firmLeigh Day for the same issue. 12,000 people will be represented by it.

Around 300,000 people are affected by this issue. People who haven't signed up are encouraged to do so.