Hargreaves Lansdown hit by lawsuit over Neil Woodford’s fund collapse
Hargreaves Lansdown has been hit with a lawsuit on behalf of thousands of investors in Neil Woodford’s fund, the first time the FTSE 100 funds supermarket has been sued over its promotion of the once star stockpicker.
RGL Management, a claims management firm, is seeking hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation for investors from Hargreaves Lansdown and fund administrator Link Fund Solutions in a lawsuit filed in the High Court.
The lawsuit is the first to target Hargreaves Lansdown, which recommended Woodford’s funds on its influential “best buy” list of investments until the £3.7bn vehicle was suspended in 2019.
Link Fund Solutions already faces demands for more than £300mn in penalties and compensation from the Financial Conduct Authority, and its Australian parent company has said it will not foot the bill if any successful claims arising from Woodford are more than the UK company can pay. Link disagrees with the FCA’s assessment.
Lawyers expect the court will set a deadline in the first half of next year for the claimant groups to sign up investors.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Joshua Oliver
