Sharesoc is encouraging shareholders who have been burned by the Woodford Equity Income saga to join its campaign after Leigh Day becomes the first law firm to secure funding and claimant cost insurance.
Leigh Day is pursuing a claim against authorised corporate director Link Fund Solutions for its role in events leading up to the implosion of fallen manager Neil Woodford’s £3.6bn fund. Initially it had been looking to bring a case against platform giant Hargreaves Lansdown for its championing of Woodford’s funds via its best buy list.
Sharesoc announced it was endorsing Leigh Day’s lawsuit back in November as it unveiled its own Woodford Campaign to help investors seek compensation for millions of pounds of losses. This is the first time the not-for-profit retail shareholder organisation had endorsed a legal claim.
It is one of several Woodford campaigns to gather steam in recent months. Last November The Evidenced Based Investor launched #JusticeForWoodfordInvestors in a bid to recruit claimants for Harcus Parker’s class action suit against Link. At the time Harcus Parker said it had the funds in place to be able to launch a multi-million-pound suit by the end of 2020.
Investors could recoup 70% of their losses if Leigh Day is successful
Sharesoc said it was now in the best interests of the 500,000 investors who lost money to back Leigh Day’s claim, which if successful could see them recover 70% of their losses. More than 3,000 people have signed up to the case so far.
“We are enthused that the Leigh Day claim is now the first to be fully funded and has ensured potential costs to claimants are insured,” Sharesoc director Cliff Weight said.
“Our Woodford campaign aims not only to increase the likelihood of compensation but also to support affected investors to keep up to date with developments and work together.”
In addition to Leigh Day and Harcus Parker, Nelsons is also examining possible legal claims against Link over the former Woodford Equity Income fund, which has been renamed LF Equity Income during its wind down.
Slater and Gordon, which began examining a case against Hargreaves Lansdown for its Woodford cheerleading in October, has also extended its investigation to Link. It has already decided that Hargreaves has a case to answer for.
Leigh Day was the first law firm to launch an investigation into a potential class action involving Woodford Equity Income investors. It announced in October it would be focusing its attention on Hargreaves and received a stream of inquiries from disgruntled Hargreaves clients.
RGL Management and Wallace LLP are also working together on a case against Hargreaves, claiming the platform knew of liquidity issues in WEIF from November 2017 yet continued to promote the fund in its buy list.
