The closure of the Woodford Equity Income fund (WEIF) could leave investors waiting for their money for "years", with the affair likely to have ramifications for the authorised corporate director (ACD) market and regulators' future approach to fund liquidity standards, according to industry commentators.
WEIF's closure, which subsequently led to the demise of Woodford Investment Management (IM), has left investors continuing to pay fees to BlackRock Advisors and Park Hill, while the firms unwind the fund's £3bn in AUM in efforts to return client capital. Regulatory manager at FE Mikkel Bates warned it "could take months, even years" for investors to see their capital fully returned. He explained investors are likely to see some capital more quickly from the sale of the fund's liquid assets, but the fund's illiquid assets - to which it has high exposure - will take much longer t...
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