Neil Woodford blocks customers from seeing full list of investments
Fund manager had previously taken unusual step of publishing complete holdings
Neil Woodford has blocked investors from seeing the complete holdings in his three main funds as he drastically readjusts his portfolios to meet redemption requests.
Mr Woodford launched his investment management business five years ago with the promise to be as open with customers as possible. This included taking the unusual step of publishing the complete list of holdings in his three main funds, Equity Income, Income Focus and Patient Capital Trust.
Fund managers typically publish a short list of their holdings, such as the 10 largest stocks, saying providing full disclosure could invite other investors to mimic their strategies.
But the dramatic decision by Mr Woodford’s investment business to suspend dealing in his £3.7bn equity income fund has prompted a change in stance.
“During the period of the LF Woodford Equity Income fund’s suspension and subsequent repositioning of its portfolio, we will only be showing the top 10 holdings of our three funds. We firmly believe this is in the best interests of investors,” said Woodford Investment Management in a statement.
Trading in the equity income fund has been suspended for at least 28 days while Mr Woodford is able to sell enough assets to meet redemption requests and reduce the fund’s exposure to unlisted stocks.
The fund manager continues to receive a fee for running the fund, despite heavy criticism from politicians over doing so throughout its suspension.