There are a couple of recent news stories worth commenting on:
Firstly Neil Woodford has been fined £5.9 million by the Financial Conduct Authority and his investment company £40 million for failings in managing the Woodford Equity Income fund which collapsed in 2019. Retail investors lost £billions as a result.
I fortunately was not invested in that fund and the result just seemed to be a case of poor risk management. Bearing in mind what Neil Woodford probably extracted from the fund in management fees during the period of his involvement he has surely got off lightly. He apparently intends to appeal the judgement of the FCA.
The other big news story was the decision by the FCA to launch a consultation on an investment scheme for those who might justify some compensation for car finance policies where the dealer’s commission was not disclosed. Drivers, including me, might get as much as £950 in compensation according to an article in The Times (I did finance the purchase of my previous Jaguar XF but not for my latest Jaguar).
But whatever is eventually agreed, it would be very damaging to those companies that provide car finance. Now I hold shares in several insurance companies so I could take a negative hit from that to offset any claim on my past car purchases. To my mind this is just ridiculous that suckers who overpaid for their car finance or insurance should be compensated.
I shall respond to the FCA consultation accordingly when it is issued.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson )
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