To: Sir Chris Wormald, Chair of the Forfeiture Committee, Cabinet Office

Neil Woodford should forfeit his CBE because of the terrible harm the Woodford scandal has caused

Regardless of the qualities that led to Neil Woodford’s inclusion in the 2013 New Years Honours List, many would argue that his behaviour leading up to the closure of his flagship investment fund in 2019, and since, would surely not attract similar approbation.

Many feel that:

His actions have left thousands of investors with significant losses, for many at a critical time in their lives as they approached retirement
He seems to have accepted no formal responsibility, showed very little genuine remorse or made any meaningful effort to remedy the situation
His continuing to profit personally as the seriousness of the situation unfolded make him unworthy to continue holding the CBE

And it must be remembered that Neil Woodford’s typical clients were ordinary individuals investing for retirement, for a rainy day, for school fees or some such investment goal - they were retail investors investing with an ‘expert’ on the basis that he was able to deliver on the expectation of reasonable, risk-averse returns.

Here’s some of what the Forfeiture of Honours page of the Cabinet Office’s website says about Forfeiture of Honours; we have placed all of their wording in italics, our emphasis in bold added:

Forfeiture

There is an expectation that those who receive an honour are, and will continue to be, good citizens and role models.

An honour can be withdrawn (or ‘forfeited’) for a variety of reasons, including criminal conviction and bringing the honours system into disrepute.

A decision to forfeit an honour can be based on events that pre-date the award (for example, a past criminal conviction, even if spent), or conduct that occurs after the award is made.

The Forfeiture Committee considers cases put to it when the holder of an honour has brought the honours system into disrepute. It will automatically consider cases where an individual:

has been censured or struck off by the relevant regulatory authority or professional body, for actions or failures to act, especially which are directly relevant to the granting of the honour;

The Committee’s recommendations for forfeiture are submitted through the Prime Minister to the King. If the King gives his approval, a notice of forfeiture is usually placed in the London Gazette.

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The full page from which the above information was selectively taken is here.

In keeping with the instructions on that page, if you believe that Neil Woodford has behaved in a way that should lead to the forfeiture of his CBE you should contact the Cabinet Office at [email protected], and explain the reasons why you believe his honour should be forfeited.

In addition to that, please support this campaign by the Transparency Task Force and our Woodford Campaign Group for Neil Woodford’s honour to be withdrawn, by supporting this petition. We hope he does so swiftly and voluntarily.

We believe such a campaign to be important.

Why is this important?

There has been much talk and many pages written about the Woodford scandal, including the excellent book by the Financial Times’ Owen Walker, Built on a Lie.

It’s a scandal that centres around a rockstar fund manager’s fall from grace; a scandal that has led to thousands of ordinary investors and pension savers suffering life-changing financial losses; and it’s a scandal that has rocked the investment world and the regulatory framework that’s supposed to govern it.

At the heart of the scandal of course is Neil Woodford himself.

In June 2013, in the 2013 Birthday Honours, Neil Woodford was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the economy.

But in March 2019, after two years of poor performance during which fund assets contracted by more than £5 billion, the Sunday Times carried out an investigation into the fund. It found the fund held less than 20% of assets in FTSE 100 companies compared to over 50% when it was created, and over 20% of assets were in small Alternative Investment Market companies.

On 4 June 2019 trading in Woodford Investment Management’s largest fund (the Woodford Equity Income fund) was suspended. There had been large withdrawals of funds by many investors. Following this, St James’s Place plc terminated Woodford's contract to manage three of its funds, valued at £3.5 billion.

On 15 October 2019 the fund board announced that Woodford's flagship fund, Woodford Equity Income Fund, was to be shut down and Woodford had been removed as investment manager. The following day Woodford announced he would resign from his remaining investment funds and close his investment company in an orderly fashion.

If you believe that Neil Woodford should give back his CBE, because of the terrible harm the scandal has caused not just the Woodford investors but also the harm caused to the trust and confidence in the UK’s investment sector, please sign our petition.

And if you would like to know more about what people are saying about the Woodford Scandal, please:

Watch the short videos of 14 people expressing what they really think: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq65yhs7AS_4ZA8tm-CSMZB8x4kosltV8
Click here to download and read some impact statements from harmed investors.

…and there is also the book about Neil Woodford, Built on a Lie by the award-winning FT Journalist Owen Walker; and also the book about Woodford by Davd Ricketts, When the Fund Stops.

For more information please contact:

Andy Agathangelou FRSA

Founder, Transparency Task Force; a Certified Social Enterprise

Chair, Secretariat Committee, APPG on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services

Chair, Violation Tracker UK Advisory Board

Co-Founder, The Woodford Campaign Group

Founder, RSA’s Financial Services Network

Governor, The Pensions Policy Institute

Associate Member, Better Finance

…through:

[email protected]