The two non-executive directors at Woodford Investment Management have quietly parted ways with the business as Neil Woodford prepares to shut up shop.
Martin Walton, an entrepreneur who backed many of the same unlisted firms as Woodford, and Marcia Campbell, a vet of Standard Life, informed the Financial Conduct Authority they have ended their association with Neil Woodford’s eponymous investment boutique, the Financial Times revealed.
The pair served in an advisory capacity and were part of the firm’s oversight board. Neither Walton or Campbell appear on the Companies House register as directors. Their Linkedin profiles do not reference their work for Woodford.
Non-execs not listed on Companies House
Woodford IM has two company directors – Woodford and his business partner Craig Newman who co-founded the investment boutique with him in 2014.
Woodford and Newman have paid themselves approximately £100m in dividends between 2014 and 2018, according to filings from Companies House, and bagged £20m in dividends as the situation at Woodford IM began to unravel.
The two independent directors depart as Woodford prepares to shut up shop following news that the frozen Woodford Equity Income fund will be wound-up. Thousands of investors, including 133,000 Hargreaves customers, remain trapped in the fund, with PJT Partners, the investment bank charged with selling down the illiquid assets, predicting losses could reach 33% in a base case scenario.
Woodford took the “highly painful” decision to close the business last month and most of the staff have been let go, save for a small handful of senior managers overseeing the wind-down.
Woodford and Walton shared penchant for unquoteds
Walton is currently the chairman and CEO of London-based Bradshaw Consulting and sits on the boards of several start-ups. Described by the FT as a “long-term ally of Woodford” the pair have invested in many of the same unlisted companies over the years.
When he joined Woodford IM at launch in 2014 he was chief executive of biotech specialist Excalibur Fund Managers and director of Arthurian Life Sciences. Woodford’s firm provided funding for several start-ups that were supported by Excalibur and Arthurian, including ReNeuron, Autolus and Proton Partners, now trading as Rutherford Health.
Woodford was also the largest investor in Arix Bioscience, an Aim-listed venture capital group that Walton launched in 2015.
Campbell joined the Woodford IM oversight board in 2016 as chair, taking over for Mary Reilly, a former Deloitte partner. She spent over 20 years at Standard Life, lastly as group operations director and CEO of its Asia Pacific business.
She is currently an independent director and chairs the risk committee for several fund groups, including Charles Stanley and Canada Life where she also sits on the audit committee. She is also an independent director for Murray International Trust run by Bruce Stout and a member of Aviva’s independent governance committee.
Woodford IM declined to comment.
