Neil Woodford has raised at least 650 million pounds ($796 million) by selling listed assets held in his frozen flagship fund, as he prepares for a potential line of clients yanking their money when the fund reopens.

The embattled stock picker shocked the financial world in early June by halting withdrawals from his LF Woodford Equity Income Fund after a run of poor results led to mounting redemption requests. He made the decision to buy time to sell down the fund’s holdings of lightly traded micro-, small- and mid-cap stocks that accounted for 97% its assets at the end of May, according to Morningstar data.

Link Fund Solutions Ltd., administrator of Woodford’s flagship, said on Friday that the suspension will remain in place for at least another month, and that lifting it in December is “achievable.” The fund’s status is reviewed every 28 days.

The fund has fallen by 11.2% since the suspension, compared with a 1.5% gain on its benchmark index, the FTSE All Share Total Return, according to Link.

Stake Sales

Woodford raised at least 300 million pounds in June by selling down stakes including those in BCA Marketplace, NewRiver REIT Plc and Oakley Capital Investments. Since then, his sales have included shares in Stobart Group, which focuses on aviation, energy and civil engineering, and Eurocell, a plastics manufacturer. He also reduced his stake in Crystal Amber Fund. Bloomberg’s calculation of the amount raised is based on public filings and market prices.

A Woodford spokesman declined to comment on how much the fund has raised.

Suspending redemptions is a rare step for any fund, let alone one, like Woodford’s, that allows clients to make regular withdrawals. Since announcing the freeze, he has lost key executives and long-time investors, has been hit by criticism from a top lawmaker and faces an investigation by the U.K. markets regulator. In response to Woodford’s woes, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said that funds offering daily liquidity while loading up on illiquid assets are “built on a lie.”
Legal Limit

In another potential blow to Woodford, trading in shares of Eddie Stobart Logistics Plc was suspended on Friday pending clarification of the impact of some accounting issues. Woodford’s flagship fund owns about 22% of the company, according to Bloomberg data.

Fresh concern has arisen recently about Woodford’s compliance with U.K. rules that limit how much open-ended funds like his can hold in unlisted securities. He breached the legal limit -- 10% of the value of the fund -- twice last year, and addressed this in part by having some securities listed on an exchange in Guernsey, according to the Financial Conduct Authority.

Earlier this month, one of his holdings, Sabina Estates, was delisted from The International Stock Exchange, according to a statement on the TISE website. That followed the delisting in July of other stocks held by Woodford’s fund, including IH Holdings International Ltd. Unlisted holdings now account for more than 18% of the fund’s portfolio, according to Citywire.

The net asset value of the listed Woodford Patient Capital Trust Plc was reduced on Friday by about 3.4 pence per share when Link lowered the valuation of the trust’s stake in IH Holdings.

“We commenced the process of reducing the fund’s exposure to unquoted and less liquid assets in February,” the spokesman for Woodford said when asked about the delistings. “What you will see when the fund reopens is a portfolio with more FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies -- 80% of the proceeds from share sales since suspension have been reinvested in FTSE 100 stocks -- but still reflecting the same investment strategy.”


This article was provide by Bloomberg News.