Neil Woodford was considered a star fund manager until his career abruptly ended in a flurry of bad market bets and calls for stricter regulations of the financial industry.
Link Fund Solutions, the administrators of Woodford’s failed empire, fired the stock picker from his flagship fund in mid-October. Withdrawals from Woodford Equity Income Fund have been suspended since June, after several investors asked for their money back.
Those demands came after a series of bad market bets in the 18 months prior. At its peak, the fund was worth £10.2bn. At the time of Woodford’s removal, it was worth £3.7bn.
The affair has led to investors continuously clamouring for their money back and for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) facing criticism for not having acted sooner. The FCA has denied having not done anything to prevent the collapse of the firm, saying it had been talking with Link Fund Solutions since February 2018.
In a new blog, MirrorWeb, the website and social media archiving platform, stated that the fallout from Woodford’s fall from grace has issued new calls for stricter regulations and increased transparency.
Yet, whatever the regulatory landscape will look like, MirrorWeb stated that “it is paramount that these firms are doing the best they can when it comes to how they are marketing to investors.”
It argued that it RegTech solutions like the ones offered by MirrorWeb can help ensure financial services firms can ensure they are compliant with regulations, “especially those making up a firm’s digital presence, are accountable and responsible”.
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