Investors in the defunct Woodford Equity Income fund are facing charges of £116,000, amassed since the end of September, to wind down the fund, according to reports.
According to the Times, two companies hired by Link Fund Solutions have charged investors a total of £15.635m. The previous cost estimate, published on 30 September, was £15.519m, which suggests that charges were £116,000 in the intervening time.
Portfolio Adviser understands the £116,000 is due to changes to the accrued expenses in the fund valuation which occurs if there is a change to the estimated costs of work to be performed and invoiced at a future date.
As transactions are concluded, the third parties in question, PJT Partners and law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, will issue their invoices for the actual work performed and Link will review and approve as appropriate. The amount accrued in the fund as an expense is indicative and can change as activities occur, so there could still be some movement in this figure, both up and down.
Last week, Link said it would make a fourth repayment of £98.48m to investors in the next few days and would notify them on 9 December of the amount they will each receive, with money being transferred on 11 December.
The latest payment will take the total repaid to £2.54bn, leaving about £192m in the fund.
Link previously appointed Blackrock to sell off the find’s liquid assets (portfolio A) and PJT to offload the illiquid names (portfolio B).
Blackrock commenced its role on 18 January 2020 and all portfolio A assets had been sold by 30 September when the fund’s annual accounts were published. PJT Partners is still selling down the illiquid assets, including a portfolio of assets to Acacia.
The accounts revealed Blackrock is due £11m for its hand in selling down the fund’s liquid stocks between 15 October 2019 and 30 March 2020. A further £3.2m is owed to PJT Partners, including £2.8m it will receive upon selling the assets to Acacia, while Debevoise & Plimpton earned £2.5m in fees.
Some Woodford investors are considering legal action and thousands have registered with the London law firm Harcus Parker.
