God only knows but Neil Woodford could bring his beleaguered fund back from the brink. It would be a heroic story if he did, one in which fund gating was revealed as a masterful manoeuvre that preceded a decade of strong, stable returns.
This is optimistic, sure, but we have to be because another scenario – though again at the more extreme edge – is that the Ucits ‘gold standard’ is spectacularly damaged. After 30 years and particularly the past ten of ever-greater refinement, issues of governance and oversight still remain in Ucits funds. Which is quite unbelievable.
The industry is now questioning the commercial arrangement between third-party “outsourced governance providers” and the funds that pay them (see feature, page 12).
The Ucits brand will no doubt survive. We’ll have to see about Neil Woodford’s fund.
Nick Fitzpatrick, Group Editor, Funds Europe
