The chair of Neil Woodford’s former investment trust has stepped aside after six years at the helm of the board.
Schroder UK Public Private (SUPP), formerly known as Woodford Patient Capital, announced Susan Searle had retired following the company’s AGM on 4 June.
Her retirement had already been telegraphed as part of the trust’s long-term succession plan. Last Friday shareholders approved independent non-executive director Tim Edwards as her successor.
The board thanked Searle “for her leadership as chair,” in a stock exchange announcement.
The decline of Woodford Patient Capital Trust
Searle has had a long history with SUPP, chairing the trust since 2015. Woodford’s former closed-ended vehicle smashed records when it floated back in April 2015, with the now disgraced manager raising £800m from investors.
While the trust debuted to much fanfare, it wasn’t long before it found itself under pressure as many of Woodford’s punchy bets on the UK domestic economy and less liquid pharma and biotech stocks soured.
Its widening discount came under more pressure when Woodford’s flagship Equity Income fund suspended in June 2019, prompting growing calls for the Oxford manager to be sacked.
The board eventually removed Woodford as manager in October 2019, replacing him with Schroders duo Tim Creed and Ben Wicks. By that time the trust was languishing at a 41% discount.
SUPP still on double digit discount
Despite being under new leadership SUPP has had a rough time thanks to its legacy Woodford holdings. Its shares are still trading at a 16.3% discount to NAV, while peers in the IT Growth Capital sector are trading on a 8.2% premium.
In April Schroder UK Public Private revealed its NAV had been written down by one fifth between September and December 2020, with major holding Rutherford Health suffering a 60% haircut.
See also: Ex-Woodford holdings continue to knock Schroders trust as NAV plunges 20%
Total NAV for 2020 declined by 29.2% while shares tanked by 19.2%, though this was an improvement on 2019 in which both the NAV and share price each lost around 50%.
Last month Creed and Wicks initiated their first holding in cybersecurity company Tessian since taking over the mandate from Woodford.
See also: Former Woodford trust initiates first holding since Schroders takeover
Incoming SUPP chair
The SUPP board described incoming chair Edwards as a “qualified chartered accountant with a widespread background in corporate finance and investment”.
He is also the chair of a trio of UK biotech firms – Storm Therapeutics, Karus Therapeutics and Modulus Oncology – as well as a director of AstronauTx and an NED of Record.
Edwards was previously a member of the governing board of Innovate UK, a director of the UK Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and chair of the UK Bio Industry Association.
