/ WOODFORD PATIENT CAPITAL /
drive returns. Neil has already
had a couple of early successes,
such as the online estate agent
Purplebricks [which floated on
the stock market in December]
and some of the biotech names,
such as Immunocore. So while
it is early days, there are already
positive signs.”
Woodford himself says it is
the very nature of investing in
early-stage companies that not
all of them will progress in the
way that was hoped. “If problems
are encountered, we do our best
to help the company overcome
them,” he said.
A BUMP IN THE ROAD
A good example of a company
that “hit a bump in the road”
during the period under review
is the global pallet supplier RM2
International. While the company
announced some positive contract
wins, it also needed to make minor
modifications to the coating it
applies to its pallets, resulting in
delays to its production.
The largest detractor to
performance has been Northwest
Biotherapeutics, which has
been faced with allegations
of financial impropriety and
regulatory failure and is now
under investigation.
At the launch of the trust, John
Husselbee, head of multi asset
at Liontrust, warned it would
take a while to see meaningful
returns given the length of time
it was expected before the trust
became fully invested. One year
on, he be Y]