ShareSoc’s first Chair’s lunch

On Monday 3rd March we held our first Chair’s lunch with a number of key people who support ShareSoc’s ambitions in raising the profile of the individual investor. 

The lunch was sponsored by our Patron Lord Lee and was held in the House of Commons. Our Chair, Heather Benjamin, was joined by Gervais Williams (Premier Miton), Claer Barrett (Financial Times), Fraser Thorne (Edison), Alex Stella (Investor Hub), Richard Stone (AIC), James Ashton (QCA) and ShareSoc directors Mike Dennis and Mark Northway.   We were also joined around the table by the winners of the ballot of full ShareSoc members, Richard Frith and Olly Curtis, to share experiences of individual investors. 

The dialogue was wide ranging and has already initiated a number of discussions which will contribute to ShareSoc’s ongoing strategy. 

Following the meeting we visited the House of Commons terraces and the House of Lords gallery to hear the debates. 

One comment
  1. Charles Breese says:

    A significant change over the last few years is the emergence of the widespread unwillingness of institutional investors to invest in listed companies with market caps of <£100M. In terms of the UK economy, this equity gap is a great weakness – conversely it provides a great opportunity for ShareSoc to organise (or procure the organisation of) private investors in a way where they appear collectively to the capital market like an institutional investor whilst leaving each investor making his/her decision.

    Until the 1950s, c.55% of UK listed companies were directly owned by private investors vs. c.11% currently. For the good of the UK economy, the latter figure needs to grow in order to plug the equity gap left by institutional investors.

    Happy to discuss how this could be done.

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