Mr Woodford attributed the poor performance to his being heavily invested in sectors such as banks and housebuilders, while the market has focused on areas such as mining and on big international earning businesses.
He said he has been "steadily increasing" his exposure to shares exposed to the UK domestic economy, such as house builders and banks, as he feels those parts of the UK market represent a "compelling investment opportunity".
4) Things come full circle for wealth manager
A wealth management firm has entered administration after losing a court case brought by a client.
Full Circle Asset Management, which is based in Sevenoaks in Kent, entered administration on 27 December 2017.
As FTAdviser reported, Full Circle Asset Management was ordered by a court on 1 December to pay damages to one of its clients.
The court found the company had failed to apply stop losses as agreed, and failed to keep its client in assets appropriate to their agreed risk profile.
A spokesperson for the Fos said that because Full Circle Asset Management is in administration, rather than bankrupt, it, rather than the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), is liaising with the administrators of the business.
In a statement, PCR, the administrators of Full Circle, said all client money is in segregated accounts and so not in jeopardy.
5) Day of the Mifid
This week saw the much-awaited introduction of Mifid II after seven years preparation and some delays with a whimper, rather than a bang.
Fears around the impact of the UK's decision to leave the European Union (EU) prompted a wave of reprieves for stock exchanges looking to implement the reforms.
BaFin, the German financial services regulator, granting Deutsche Borse, the German futures exchange a 20-month reprieve from the legislation.
Deutsche Borse specifically cited the exit of the UK from the European Union as its reason for wanting the transition period.
The Financial Conduct Authority also granted a reprieve to the ICE Future Europe Exchange and the London Metals Exchange.
Meanwhile self-invested personal pension (Sipp) providers saw investment managers insist on Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) codes to allow them to trade on behalf of clients, a provider has said.
Elaine Turtle, director at Sipp and Ssas provider DP Pensions, said some investment managers have refused to accept their clients' national insurance numbers for trades under incoming Mifid II rules and have instead asked for the LEI codes.
LEIs are codes that those classed as legal entities must obtain to be able to trade in any reportable financial instrument such as equities and bonds under Mifid II rules.
In the UK they can be obtained from the London Stock Exchange.
damian.fantato@ft.com
