Over 5,000 Investors Sue Hargreaves Lansdown

Over 5,000 investors are suing Hargreaves Lansdown, alleging that the investment platform continued to promote Neil Woodford's equity fund despite being aware of its significant problems. The number of claimants has nearly doubled in the last two years, with total claims expected to exceed £200 million, averaging around £20,000 per individual. The Woodford UK Equity Income Fund was frozen in June 2019 and eventually collapsed in October 2019, leaving many investors, including 130,000 through Hargreaves Lansdown, with substantial losses. RGL Management, representing the investors, asserts that Hargreaves Lansdown knowingly recommended the troubled fund up to its collapse, despite prior knowledge of its liquidity issues. The firm is preparing to file additional claims, potentially raising the number of claimants to 10,000. Hargreaves Lansdown has declined to comment and previously rejected the claims as lacking substantive basis.