Former CIO of Neil Woodford client Acacia Research charged with insider trading

Alfred Tobia Jr and sister-in-law

Eve Maddock-Jones
clock • 2 min read

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the former CIO of Acacia Research Alfred Tobia Jr with insider trading, along with his sister-in-law Elizabeth Lee.

Tobia joined Acacia's board in 2018 and took on the role of president and CIO in 2019, positions he held until September 2021. During this period, Acacia was the sole client of disgraced former fund manager Neil Woodford, who in February that year, was preparing to launch his new advisory firm, Woodford Capital Management Partners. Acacia is a listed US investor in early-stage life science and biotech companies, the type of stock Woodford had held in his former LF Woodford Equity Income fund at the time of its collapse. Acacia bought 19 of the stricken Income fund's early-stage bio...

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