Hargreaves Lansdown has confirmed Mark Dampier is leaving the company at the end of August.
Dampier had been the architect of the Hargreaves Lansdown Wealth 150 and a champion of the Woodford Equity Income fund before its suspension in June 2019.
The Wealth 150 became the Wealth 50 in January 2019 before Hargreaves Lansdown decided to do away with the fund buy list in light of its tarnished reputation and governance issues raised by the Woodford debacle, which saw almost 300,000 of its clients trapped in the fund either directly or through the multi-manager range.
In a blog post, published on the Hargreaves Lansdown website on Thursday, Dampier reflected on his 38-year career stating he got lucky by joining the investment industry in the early 1980s.
“Basically assets were cheap, and so started arguably the greatest bull market of all time,” he said.
But he concluded the blog post by stating that he would be leaving Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Just like with investing, timing big decisions is never easy.
“As you grow older your priorities obviously start to change. I now have two granddaughters, while they are both very young (and exhausting being 3 years old and 19 months respectively) it’s good to spend more time with them.
“I am also conscious that we don’t live forever. Last year my best friend died suddenly at only 55, which is why I think this a good time to leave my full-time role at HL.”
A Hargreaves Lansdown spokesperson told Portfolio Adviser: “Mark Dampier will leave his full time role at Hargreaves Lansdown at the end of August. We wish him all the best for the future.”
Dampier said he would be back from time-to-time to “share his thoughts” with Hargreaves Lansdown’s clients.
Senior HL staff never properly took responsibility for Woodford debacle
Investment industry campaigner Robin Powell, founding editor of The Evidence Based Investor, said it was sad Dampier’s career was ending in the way it was but that he wished him well for his retirement.
Powell said: “I have no doubt that, eventually, large numbers of Hargreaves Lansdown customers will be compensated and repaid at least some of the money they lost by investing with Neil Woodford.
“It’s a shame, though, that Mark and other senior colleagues have been unable to acknowledge the role they played or offer a proper apology.”
Despite being one of Woodford’s most vocal champions, Dampier faded into the background in the days after the Woodford Equity Income fund suspended and has kept a low profile since.
He attracted negative headlines several days after the suspension as regulatory filings revealed he had sold £5.6m worth of Hargreaves Lansdown shares in the previous month as the FTSE 100 firm’s price neared its peak.
