Disgraced former fund manager Neil Woodford is set to keep selling stock tips to customers despite being handed a lifetime ban from the City.

The 65-year old’s new business venture – a stocks and shares tips service known as W4.0, which charges up to £100 a month for “access to Neil’s investment strategies” – will remain in operation despite the City watchdog censuring the former fund star.

On Tuesday, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) banned him from either managing funds or holding senior roles in the City after the implosion of his flagship Woodford Equity Income Fund in 2019 saw over 300,000 investors lose millions.

Mr Woodford and his company, Woodford Investment Management (WIM), have both said they “strongly disagree” with the FCA’s decision, which they are currently seeking to overturn.

However, Mr Woodford is to carry on offering investing tips to consumers because of a loophole which means his W4.0 app does not qualify as “financial or investment advice”.

Because the site is not regulated, and he does not manage any client funds, the FCA ban does not apply to the venture – meaning he will continue to instruct the public about their investments.

A spokesperson for Mr Woodford’s company, WIM, said: “Nothing announced today affects W4.0.”

James Tyler, a regulatory lawyer at Peters & Peters, said: “The FCA’s oversight is limited by its statutory powers. As is often the case with the FCA, this appears to sit just outside of its reach. It remains to be seen whether or not the FCA takes a different view and thinks it’s something they have the power to resolve.”

The W4.0 app itself gives paid subscribers access to “followable investment strategies, designed by Neil Woodford” and based on his “long-term approach”.

In a blog post outlining the W4.0 app, Mr Woodford insisted it was not a trading platform and instead said it provided subscribers with stock tips that they can then replicate independently through their own brokers or trading platforms.

The W4.0 app also offers access to “updates and commentary” from Mr Woodford in the form of videos, live sessions and discussion groups, through which he will offer his views on the best ways to build an investment portfolio.

The launch of the W4.0 app in April this year marked Mr Woodford’s first return to the world of investing since the collapse of his flagship fund.

Once hailed as one of the UK’s most successful stock pickers, the value of Mr Woodford’s eponymous venture crashed from £10.1bn in May 2017 to £3.6bn immediately before it was suspended in June 2019.

In its decision, the FCA said Mr Woodford made “unreasonable and inappropriate investment decisions” in managing the fund.

The watchdog fined the former star fund manager £5.9m personally and fined WIM an additional £40m.

The FCA declined to comment on W4.0.

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