Neil Woodford: a curious time to announce a resurrection

Neil Woodford: A bit rich

It was not exactly Emily Maitlis vs Prince Andrew, but if Neil Woodford expected his interview with The Sunday Telegraph to repair his battered reputation, he sorely underestimated the rawness of anger that remains against him.

The fallen star stockpicker said he empathised with his former investors because he had been forced to sell his Cotswold estate after unleashing Europe’s biggest investment scandal for a decade. But don’t feel too sorry. The sale of his country pile in November for £26.5m netted him a capital gain of nearly £13m — not a bad return compared with investors in his flagship Equity Income Fund who are nursing up to £1bn of losses.

So where will he end up next? Unlike the low-key Oxford business park that Woodford’s defunct business was based in, his new venture will have a far more upmarket setting. City Insider understands he is due to start work on March 1 at Marlow Place — the Buckinghamshire town’s “most flamboyant house”, according to the local preservation society, and a former home of George II. Hardly a state of penury.

He has also said he is planning to start a new business, based in Jersey. But the island’s financial regulator revealed this week it had not yet received an application for the venture. After the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and Treasury select committee waded in, the prospect of Jersey granting him a licence seems remote.

So, with no regulatory approval in place and swanky offices yet to open for business, it was a curious time to announce a resurrection.

Andreas Utermann: Not so cryptic

In a bid to shed its image as a sleepy Swiss bank, Vontobel began inserting the word “excite” into its job ads three years ago. Its incoming chairman Andreas Utermann may also up the thrill factor.

The former chief executive of Allianz Global Investors is well known for his forthright views. After interviews with the 55-year-old German, journalists have frequently been contacted by his press handlers to be told “what Andreas really meant”. A strong critic of Brexit, he derided UK politicians who campaigned to leave the EU — including his former schoolmate Boris Johnson — for making “empty and unrealistic promises”. He has also criticised the investment industry for failing to “demonstrate and make credible the value that we add to society through our activity”.

But Vontobel’s executives might be more interested in Utermann’s views on a matter closer to home. A frequent critic of bitcoin, Utermann has called for cryptocurrencies to be “outlawed” and once penned an article with the headline “Unencrypted: why investors should steer clear of cryptocurrencies”. What he will make of Vontobel’s Crypto Portfolio — launched last year to let investors “participate in the performance of five cryptocurrencies in a diversified manner” — is anyone’s guess. Exciting times ahead.

Edison Group: Swipe right

The EU’s Mifid II market rules have forced research houses to be more creative about attracting potential clients. The marketers at Edison Group pulled out all the stops for a recent note on the plant-based economy, formerly known as vegetarian food. The campaign involved ads appearing on apps and targeting the most relevant audience for the report.

So, which app was the source of most interest in the subject? ADVFN? Yahoo Finance? No, it was Tinder. Users of the dating app who were swiping through profiles looking for a match would have seen a message pop up asking them if they were looking for “meat alternatives”. Close, but perhaps not quite what they were looking for.