Investors trapped in Neil Woodford’s failed former fund could be forced to wait another year to retrieve their savings, after the administrator Link Fund Solutions admitted it had struggled to sell its remaining holdings.
Since the £3.7bn fund was suspended three years ago, more than £2bn has been returned to investors. But £141m remains invested in nine companies including Atom Bank and the battery manufacturer Nexeon.
Link said in a letter to investors that the wind up of the fund may not be finished by the end of this year as previously suggested.
Karl Midl, of Link, said: “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.”
The former Woodford Equity Income fund was suspended in June 2019 after Mr Woodford’s holdings in private, illiquid companies meant he was unable to sell assets quickly enough to meet withdrawal requests from his clients.
Link has been offloading assets on behalf of the former Woodford fund, after sacking Mr Woodford as manager in October 2019.
Link said it would issue a further update by July 30 or when the fund is in a position to sell the remaining £141m assets, whichever is earlier. The value of its remaining assets has grown by 13pc since Link last updated investors in November 2021.
Moira O’Neill, of the broker Interactive Investor, said Link’s letter had added “insult to injury” for savers whose money has been trapped in the fund since 2019, especially as it had not provided a specific date for the next payout to investors.
“There’s no guarantee that a wind up of the fund will happen in 2022,” she said. “Excruciatingly, there was no acknowledgement of investors’ pain in the letter. This is people’s hopes and dreams for retirement dashed.
“The Financial Conduct Authority [the City watchdog] must provide some answers soon, because investors need closure of some kind. We were expecting news from the regulator by the end of 2021 but the deafening silence has continued well into 2022.”
