Woodford loses £43.5m in fire sale from frozen fund
Beleaguered stock picker Neil Woodford has lost at least £43.5m selling off stocks from his frozen Equity Income Fund, despite having assured investors that the suspension would limit pressure to offload assets at reduced prices.
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Woodford lost money on eight out of ten positions he has sold since the gating of the fund in June, according to analysis by Bloomberg.
The former star fund manage took the biggest hit on shares he sold in Newriver, according to the calculations. Having spent around £181m building his stake in the real estate investment trust, Woodford managed to recoup just £131m when he unloaded the shares.
The two sales on which Woodford made a profit were his stakes in BCA Marketplace and Oakley Capital, which brought in £59.6m and £33.8m respectively. The analysis only covered investments where Woodford has sold off his entire stake.
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The Equity Income Fund was suspended in June after becoming overwhelmed by investor withdrawals. Link, which is overseeing the suspension, has said it expects the fund to reopen in early December.
Woodford has pledged that the fund will have a more liquid portfolio when it reopens, including more FTSE100 and FTSE250 companies.