More than 5,000 investors have joined a mounting legal battle against Hargreaves Lansdown over the catastrophic collapse of Neil Woodford’s equity fund, with claims the UK’s largest investment platform continued promoting the troubled product despite clear warning signs.
The group High Court claim, orchestrated by RGL Management, has seen its claimant numbers nearly double over the past two years. Individual claims average approximately £20,000 including interest, with RGL indicating the total number of participants is set to rise further as additional filings are planned for 2024.
Hargreaves Lansdown, which previously dismissed RGL’s initial 2022 claims as lacking substance, had heavily promoted Woodford’s flagship UK Equity Income Fund since its 2014 launch. The fund’s dramatic 2019 collapse occurred after a rush of withdrawal attempts triggered by poor performance and illiquid private company investments, forcing its suspension.
The scale of exposure through Hargreaves Lansdown was substantial, with nearly 300,000 of their clients accounting for £1.6 billion of the fund’s total £3.7 billion value. RGL’s legal action centres on allegations that Hargreaves Lansdown persisted in recommending the fund despite awareness of serious portfolio diversification and liquidity issues.
Claimants are pursuing both compensation for direct losses and damages for missed alternative investment opportunities. RGL, partnering with Wallace LLP, has set their success fee at 25 per cent including VAT, covering legal and administrative costs.
The development follows last year’s settlement between Woodford’s fund administrator, Link Fund Solutions, and the Financial Conduct Authority, which established a £230 million compensation scheme for affected investors while averting a £50 million regulatory fine.
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