The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Neil Woodford, Woodford Patient Capital Trust
As one of the eminent figures in the UK’s fund management industry over recent decades, Neil Woodford’s move into university venturing has been fantastic news for UK spinouts.
The £800m ($1.2bn) Woodford Patient Capital Trust, set up in 2015, has been a strong supporter of spinouts from a range of universities and research bodies around the country. Its relatively novel approach – an investment trust aimed at both retail and institutional investors which targets high-risk opportunities with the intention of holding them over the long term – has proved popular.
Among its many portfolio companies are University of Oxford spinout Bodle Technologies, a developer of display technology which raised $8.5m from a group of investors at the start of 2018.
Woodford rose to prominence as head of fund manager Invesco Perpetual’s income funds in the 1990s and 2000s. In 2014, he left to set up Woodford Investment Management.
