A combined 13.8 million pounds in dividends over 12 months

Neil Woodford and his CEO Craig Newman earned 9 million and 4.8 million pounds in dividends in the year leading up to the collapse of Woodford Investment Management.

Citywire reports that business records revealed the payouts thanks to a 65%-35% split in ownership. The publication says that these payments were on top of the 60 million pounds in dividends and distributions in the four years leading up to 2018. Not bad work if you can get it.

Neil Woodford and the Collapse

Investors had started pulling money from the fund due to weak performance.

The Guardian notes:

“Woodford’s flagship fund was once worth more than £10bn but fell below £3bn as investors rushed to withdraw their money after a series of poorly performing stock picks, including online estate agent Purplebricks, finance firm Burford and doorstep lender Provident Financial.”

That set off a run on assets while the fund attempted to unload (with struggles) illiquid assets.

The fund was suspended and investors couldn’t pull money out. However, Citywire says that its leadership pushed back on calls to waive management feeds on the Woodford Equity Income fund after the suspension last June. That totals about 8 million pounds in the four months leading up to the October firing of Woodford.

The suspension left 300,000 investors dealing with losses and trapped in the fund. According to The Guardian, fund administrators told investors that they lost roughly 20% of their money from the Woodford fund. That figure is actually lower than initial reports.