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ShareSoc Blog

This blog gives you the latest topical news plus some informal comments on them from ShareSoc’s directors and other contributors. These are the personal comments of the authors and not necessarily the considered views of ShareSoc. The writers may hold shares in the companies mentioned. You can add your own comments on the blog posts, but note that ShareSoc reserves the right to remove or edit comments where they are inappropriate or defamatory.

There is more news given in the News page of our web site and more analysis of news is provided in our monthly newsletter for members – see the Newsletters page.

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Money – You Can’t Give It Away

A momentous item of news last week (which arose while I was on holiday and hence the late post) was the astonishing fact that two public companies, Henkel and Sanofi, sold bonds with negative coupons. Yes the purchasers of their bonds are guaranteed to get back less than they paid for them in a few years time giving an effective return of minus 0.5%. In a normal financial world, you have to pay to borrow money you do not have. More recently ...

Micro Focus Takes On HPE Software

The big deal last week (announced on 7/9/2016) was undoubtedly the acquisition by Micro Focus International (MCRO) of the software business of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). This is a deal valued at US$8.8 billion which will result in HPE shareholders owning 50.1% of the company and hence it is a reverse takeover. But the on-going business will be managed by Kevin Loosemore as Executive Chairman of Micro Focus and it will of course be registered and listed in the UK. It ...

Restoring Responsible Share Ownership

Report on House of Commons event – Restoring responsible ownership: ending the ownerless Corporation and controlling executive pay on Monday 5th September 2016 Submitted by Cliff Weight Over 100...

Restoring Responsible Ownership

"Restoring Responsible Ownership" is the title of a paper published today by Chris Philp, M.P., on the topic of "Ending the Ownerless Corporation and Controlling Executive Pay". Many people, including ShareSoc, have pointed out the problems in the current governance of public companies. Professor John Kay covered many of the issues in his admirable review of how the stock market operates in his Kay Review a few years ago. One of the symptoms has been rapidly rising director pay as institutions ...

Wealth Manager’s Charges Still High

There were a couple of interesting articles in the FT over the weekend (27/8/2016) on the costs to investors of having someone else manage your portfolio. Data from Grant Thornton suggests that investors who buy investment advice and financial products from mass market investment groups are still paying 2.56% per annum on average. This is only down from 2.86% in 2012 when the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) which unbundled product commissions was expected to reduce them substantially. Indeed product costs may have ...

Youinvest Charges Postscript

I previously commented, both on this blog and in the ShareSoc Informer Newsletter, on the revised charges that Youinvest announced on the 9th August. The impact on SIPP investors with largish portfolios of direct investments (shares or investment trusts) seemed to be minimal. But the increase in custody charges on funds caused more than one ShareSoc member to complain. The introduction of a custody charge on holding shares, investment trusts, ETFs, gilts and bonds in SIPPs, ISAs and Direct Dealing accounts may ...

ShareSoc Advises Investors to Vote Against Berkeley Remuneration Report

PRESS RELEASE 82 23/08/2016 ShareSoc (the UK Individual Shareholders Society) is advising its Members to vote against the Remuneration Report resolution at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting of Berkeley Group Holdings Plc. ShareSoc considers: - The 2011 LTIP plan total payouts are likely to be more than £400 million and are excessive. The plan dilutes shareholders by 14%, even though awards were made towards the bottom of the cycle. The dilution should have been half of what was agreed. This is an unnecessary transfer ...

Please Vote Against Berkeley Remuneration

ShareSoc has advised investors to vote against the Remuneration Report at Berkeley Group. Is a total pay figure of £21 million in 2015/16 for Executive Chairman Tony Pidgley justifiable on any grounds at all? It has surely arisen as the result of an over generous LTIP scheme which shareholders voted for without realising the possible consequences. LTIP schemes have been one source of the ever growing pay of public company directors and if we are to reign in pay levels we ...

Companies House Records May Be Lost

The last ShareSoc Informer Newsletter contained an article on the ease with which one can look up the past history of company directors in the new free service provided...

BHP Billiton Meeting and Other ShareSoc Events

ShareSoc has organised a meeting for investors with BHP Billiton Plc on the 29th September at 11.15 am at their London offices. The meeting will consist of a presentation followed by Q&A and then a buffet lunch meeting with BHP Billiton members of staff. BHP Billiton announced their latest annual results on 16th August and the FT had this to say: “Writedowns and impairments have dragged BHP Billiton to its biggest annual loss, capping off a troubled year for the Anglo Australian miner ...
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