Investors in Neil Woodford’s flagship fund, Woodford Equity Income, now LF Equity Income, have voted decisively to approve a reimbursement scheme backed by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Ninety-four per cent of those who voted, including institutional investors, opted for the “scheme of arrangement” administered by Link Fund Solutions and supported by the FCA.
More than 54,000 investors participated in the vote with the final results to be published before a court hearing on January 18, which Link hopes will approve the result in order to begin the process of returning up to £230mn to investors.
According to the FCA, this will mark the return of a total 77 per cent of money that was locked up in 2019.
Roughly 300,000 investors had some £3.6bn stuck in the Woodford Equity Fund after its suspension in June 2019 in what became one of the UK’s worst investment scandals. The fund collapsed after a downturn deflated the value of its public equities, and its illiquid holdings meant it struggled to meet investor demands for redemptions. The FCA said: “This redress scheme offers the quickest route for redress for the vast majority of people. Payouts through other means such as litigation or the FSCS are not guaranteed and will likely take longer to achieve.”
Aegon released the following “Notice” issued by Link Fund Solutions Limited (“LFSL”).
The Notice provides important information about the result of the meeting of Scheme Creditors, that was held at 10:00 a.m. on 13 December 2023.
It also contains information about LFSL’s application to the Court for an order sanctioning the Scheme (the “Sanction Hearing”), which will be heard on 18 January 2024.
The Scheme will bind all Scheme Creditors if it is approved. Approval of Scheme of Arrangements proposed by Link FSL
