Fund administrator Link, which is handling the failed Woodford funds, is making its first distribution to investors this week, with most expecting to lose a substantial chunk of their original investments.

The two founding directors of Woodford Investment Management were paid total dividends of £13.825m in the company’s most recent financial year despite a profit plunge and well publicised woes at the company.

The steady dismantling of the Woodford empire has continued with the Woodford Patient Capital Trust, one of the firm’s best known investment vehicles, being renamed the Schroder UK Public Private Trust and management transferred to Schroders.

Schroders will take over the Woodford Patient Capital Trust by the end of the year, it has been revealed.