Hargreaves Lansdown CEO to Forgo Bonus for Touting Woodford

(Bloomberg) -- Hargreaves Lansdown Plc Chief Executive Officer Chris Hill has volunteered to give up a bonus of as much as 2.1 million pounds ($2.6 million) until fund manager Neil Woodford’s troubles come to a close, the Daily Mail reported, citing people at the company it didn’t identify.

The decision to forgo the bonus was taken because Hargreaves Lansdown’s customers have been affected by the freezing of Woodford’s LF Woodford Equity Income fund, the newspaper said. Hargreaves Lansdown was a major backer of the embattled fund manager until he halted withdrawals from the fund at the end of May. It has since removed Woodford’s Income Focus fund from its Wealth 50 list of “favorite funds” and disposed of its stake in the vehicle.

Neil Woodford’s troubles have sent shockwaves through the investment industry, piling pressure on active managers, including his successor at Invesco Perpetual, the company where he built his reputation as a star stock picker. Companies his funds invested in have also come under pressure, as investors seek to exploit the pressure on Woodford to cut holdings and raise cash.

Hill has apologized to clients impacted by the affair and Hargreaves Lansdown has launched an internal investigation into the Wealth 50 list to ensure it’s recommending products in an unbiased way. Nicky Morgan, the chair of the U.K. Parliament’s Treasury Committee, has questioned Hargreaves Lansdown about its links to the fund, how it was included in the list and the number of clients exposed, according to an emailed statement earlier this week.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jack Sidders in London at jsidders@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shelley Robinson at ssmith118@bloomberg.net, James Amott, Namitha Jagadeesh

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