On the defence: Disgraced fund manager Neil Woodford has launched a blog
Neil Woodford has insisted he is ‘neither hero nor villain’ as he faces fines and a ban from City regulators over the collapse of his fund management empire.
Launching a blog, the one-time investment star said he hoped to shed light on events that led to the demise of Woodford Investment Management.
The group collapsed in 2019 after 300,000 savers were denied access to £3.7billion of their cash by the shuttering of his flagship Equity Income fund.
Woodford – once dubbed ‘the man who made Middle England rich’ – wrote: ‘I am neither hero nor villain.
‘I was never the financial saviour of Middle England, but then, neither do I think I was worthy of the onslaught that followed the failure.
‘Regardless of who was responsible for what, the fact is investors were trapped in my fund and suffered permanent losses, and this will always weigh heavily on me.’
The Financial Conduct Authority is preparing enforcement action that could mean an unlimited fine and a City ban for Woodford, whose fund, at its peak, was worth over £10billion.
Woodford said ‘underperformance led to events that I was not able to control’.
