Eurozone not viable, says top fund boss Neil Woodford

Neil Woodford launched his own investment company last year

The eurozone is not viable in its current form, one of the UK's most successful fund managers has warned.

Neil Woodford, who set up his own investment firm last year, said the concept was "fundamentally flawed" and he expected the "stresses and strains" in the area to continue to increase.

"In a very simple sense pretending that Greece was Germany is a fundamental error," he told BBC World News.

He also said uncertainty over Britain's EU membership could hit the UK economy.

The Conservative Party has promised to hold an in-out referendum on the UK's continuing membership of the EU if it wins this year's general election.

The referendum would be held only after David Cameron, if he is still prime minister after May, had attempted to renegotiate the terms of the UK's membership of the EU.

"The likelihood of a referendum, I think, will put a brake on external investment, international investment in the UK... it will create uncertainty," Mr Woodford told the BBC's Hardtalk programme.

Dotcom boom

Mr Woodford is considered in the industry as one of the country's best-performing fund managers.

He gained fame during his 25-year career at Invesco Perpetual, for taking a long term view on investments.

One of the best-known examples of his strategy was refusing to invest in the dotcom boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Neil Woodford made his reputation with Invesco Perpetual, but left last year to launch his own investment fund: Woodford Investment Management.