Short sellers boost HL and SJP positions in Woodford fallout - reports

Among the most shorted stocks in the FTSE 100

Short sellers have been targeting Hargreaves Lansdown and St. James's Place since the collapse of Woodford Investment Management, with the investment intermediaries' links to the firm under close scrutiny.

Hargreaves and SJP are among the most shorted stocks in the FTSE 100, according to the FT, with hedge funds placing their negative positions against the firms in the wake of the suspension of Woodford Equity Income in June and raising them since. Peter Hargreaves' firm, which had nearly 300,000 of its 1.1 million clients invested in the fund, currently faces short positions equivalent to 6.2% of its stock, according to HIS Markit data. Peter Hargreaves hits out at HL and Woodford SJP, which withdrew a £3.5bn segregated investment mandate with Woodford immediately after the WEIF sus...