Neil Woodford has today announced the flagship Woodford equity income fund will be shuttering and returning cash to shareholders as soon as the fund’s holdings can be liquidated. The fund’s board concluded the strategy could not be repositioned into sufficient liquid assets ready for the fund to reopen again without it immediately shutting on the level of redemptions. Once cash has been returned, Neil Woodford announced he will himself be stepping away from the fund which marks the most high-profile resignation of a fund manager in recent history.