“Neil Woodford has managed to outdo Liz Truss in total lack of self-awareness.”
Woodford Views is the 64-year-old’s second attempt at reinventing himself following the spectacular collapse of his investment business in October 2019.
The first was two years after the implosion of his £3.7bn fund, when he set up Woodford Capital Management Partners with a band of former colleagues. However, he pulled the plug on the venture the following year.
In his first blog post, Woodford promised to focus on “relevant facts and data without censorship from editors, pressure to toe a particular line or consensus thinking”.
Why should we listen to him? Well, Woodford thinks that his extensive experience as a fund manager still counts for something, despite being viewed as a “villain” by some of the 300,000 investors still trapped in his fund.
“With over 35 years of finance industry experience, primarily as an investor, I’ve witnessed economic and corporate success and failure,” he wrote.
“I will use this experience to shed light on issues relevant to today’s investors and to help you navigate the complexities of financial markets.”
It’s certainly a bold move and an interesting time to resurface.
The Financial Conduct Authority last week issued a warning notice to Woodford criticising him over his role in the collapse of his £3.7bn Equity Income fund.
What do you make of Woodford’s latest attempt to reinvent himself? Would you be interested in hearing his views on the UK economy? Let me know what you think.
Ethnic diversity warning for City fund groups
Elsewhere, State Street’s Hannah Smith shared her experience working as a Black woman in the asset management sector.
Smith details how despite her academic achievements and ability to get noticed early on in her career, challenges emerged when she struggled to connect with those conducting the job inverviews.
“I didn’t go to the same school or have the same backgrounds as many of those on the interview panels, and it was a challenge to break through and get people to take a chance on me. But the rejection I encountered motivated me even more to succeed,” Smith said.
Even at this stage in her career, Smith said she still hasn’t “identified anyone who looks like me as a role model”.
Ethnic diversity has been an issue the asset management sector has struggled with for years. Now fund management groups are waking up to the fact that poor progress made in this area could cost them business.
A survey by Reboot showed around a fifth of UK asset managers thought the ethnic diversity of their workforce had become a more important factor in helping them win new business.
Perhaps not a surprise when almost 40% of institutional investors polled said they would decline working with a fund management group that lacked ethnic diversity. Is the threat from heavyweight institutional investors the impetus asset managers finally need to make better progress on this important topic?
Liontrust’s woes continue, while Amundi continues to charge ahead
Elsewhere, Liontrust reported annual net outflows of more than £6bn in the year to 31 March, up from £4.8bn during the previous 12 month period.
The UK-listed asset manager saw the biggest outflows across its retail funds and managed portfolio services unit, as some of its core investment strategies including UK equities remain out of favour.
In contrast, one asset manager that appears to be on a roll at the moment is Amundi.
Europe’s largest fund group announced this week it had struck a deal with US-based Victory Capital in a move that will increase its presence in the world’s largest mutual fund market.
The tie-up comes just two months after Amundi announced its acquisition of Alpha Associates to bolster its private markets capabilities.
As always, I’m keen to hear your tips, story ideas and feedback. Do get in touch on david.ricketts@dowjones.com