FCA fines Woodford and WIM
05 August 2025 UK
Image: mehaniq41/stock.adobe.com
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Neil Woodford £5,888,800 and banned him from holding senior manager roles and managing funds for retail investors.
The FCA has also fined Woodford Investment Management (WIM) £40 million.
Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) was an investment fund managed by Woodford and WIM.
They were responsible for managing the liquidity of the fund, so that investors could redeem their investments and be repaid.
The fund was suspended in June 2019, leaving investors — a significant majority of whom were retail customers — unable to access their money.
According to the FCA, between July 2018 and June 2019, WIM and Woodford made unreasonable and inappropriate investment decisions.
They disproportionately sold more liquid investments and bought less liquid ones over this period.
This meant that at the time of suspension only eight per cent of the investments held by WEIF could be sold within seven days.
Under rules in place at the time, FCA says, investors should have been able to access their funds within four days.
WIM and Woodford did not react appropriately as the fund’s value declined, according to the FCA, and its liquidity worsened and more investors withdrew their money.
This disadvantaged investors who remained in the fund, compared to those who had withdrawn their investment before the fund was suspended.
The FCA has concluded that Woodford held a defective and unreasonably narrow understanding of his responsibilities.
The Authority also states that despite his senior role, he did not accept that he had a responsibility to oversee the management of the fund’s liquidity, including in interviews conducted by the FCA.
Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, says: “Being a leader in financial services comes with responsibilities as well as profile. Mr Woodford simply doesn’t accept he had any role in managing the liquidity of the fund. The very minimum investors should expect is those managing their money make sensible decisions and take their senior role seriously.
“Neither Neil Woodford nor Woodford Investment Management did so, putting at risk the money people had entrusted them with.”
The FCA has also fined Woodford Investment Management (WIM) £40 million.
Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) was an investment fund managed by Woodford and WIM.
They were responsible for managing the liquidity of the fund, so that investors could redeem their investments and be repaid.
The fund was suspended in June 2019, leaving investors — a significant majority of whom were retail customers — unable to access their money.
According to the FCA, between July 2018 and June 2019, WIM and Woodford made unreasonable and inappropriate investment decisions.
They disproportionately sold more liquid investments and bought less liquid ones over this period.
This meant that at the time of suspension only eight per cent of the investments held by WEIF could be sold within seven days.
Under rules in place at the time, FCA says, investors should have been able to access their funds within four days.
WIM and Woodford did not react appropriately as the fund’s value declined, according to the FCA, and its liquidity worsened and more investors withdrew their money.
This disadvantaged investors who remained in the fund, compared to those who had withdrawn their investment before the fund was suspended.
The FCA has concluded that Woodford held a defective and unreasonably narrow understanding of his responsibilities.
The Authority also states that despite his senior role, he did not accept that he had a responsibility to oversee the management of the fund’s liquidity, including in interviews conducted by the FCA.
Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, says: “Being a leader in financial services comes with responsibilities as well as profile. Mr Woodford simply doesn’t accept he had any role in managing the liquidity of the fund. The very minimum investors should expect is those managing their money make sensible decisions and take their senior role seriously.
“Neither Neil Woodford nor Woodford Investment Management did so, putting at risk the money people had entrusted them with.”
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