(Bloomberg) -- The British Labour politician Jonathan Mendelsohn exited his investments in two funds run by embattled money manager Neil Woodford before the firm barred investors from withdrawing their money from its flagship fund.
Mendelsohn's interests in Woodford's main LF Woodford Equity Income Fund and Woodford Income Focus Fund ceased on June 1, according to U.K. parliament records. The politician still holds an investment in a listed fund, Woodford Patient Capital Trust. Once among the U.K.'s most celebrated money managers, Woodford stunned investors by saying on Monday that he'd frozen redemptions from the flagship fund.
A call and email to Mendelsohn's parliamentary office in London wasn't immediately returned. A spokesman for Woodford said any unit holder that asked to redeem their investment would have had to place that order before noon on May 31.
Mendelsohn has been a member of Britain's House of Lords since September 2013, according to the U.K. parliament's website. Non-controlling financial interests are only disclosable under the upper house's code of conduct if they exceed 50,000 pounds ($63,500).
Politicians, investors and analysts have piled pressure on Woodford after he made a move he said was necessary to protect investors. Nicky Morgan, the chair of parliament's Treasury Committee, joined Hargreaves Lansdown Plc in urging the money manager to waive fees while investors are prevented from trading.
The main Woodford fund's assets shrank by 560 million pounds ($713 million) in May due to a combination of investor withdrawals and poor performance.
Members of the House of Lords are required to reveal the sale or purchase of any investment that meets the disclosure criteria within one month of a transaction taking place, according to rules posted on the parliamentary website. Holdings in investment vehicles, such as investment trust and investment companies, are not always considered necessary for disclosure.
To contact the reporters on this story: Harry Wilson in London at hwilson57@bloomberg.net;Nishant Kumar in London at nkumar173@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shelley Robinson at ssmith118@bloomberg.net, ;Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Keith Campbell
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