Though this might be an interesting blast from the past ...
I came across some old notes of mine from March 2018. Here's what I scribbled down when Neil gave an interview. Here's what I wrote down: "We're in a momentum market, insensitive to valuation. He thinks the value of Capita and Provident Financial is higher. Dangerous bubble in Chinese credit. Bifurcated market, with good values in places. Equity markets look stretched. 'We have a portfolio of prfoundly cheap investments.' He doesn't like oil/miners - macro China. Consensus negative, but Woodford likes housebuilders, banks, some retail."
So, where are we now? Well, CPI (Capita) is down an astonishing 89% over 5 years, and PFGA (Provident Financial) has hit the skids. It changed its name to VANQ (Vanquis Banking), which is down 90% over 5 years. Pretty damn shocking, I'd say. Oh, Woody, how the mighty have fallen.
PFGA did door-to-door lending. That is a huge red flag to me. I repeat my rule for avoiding investment disasters: NEVER INVEST IN BOTTOM-FEEDERS, CONSUMER SCAMS, OR SEMI-FRAUDULENT COMPANIES. (You would have similarly avoided catastrophe in HOME, and many others). PFGA ditched doorstep lending in 2023. On August 2021, the BBC headlined "High Court backs compensation for Provident customers".