Blog

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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ShareSoc and UKSA Response to FCA Consultation on Guidance for Insolvency Practitioners

On 7th December 2020 the FCA published draft guidance for Insolvency Practitioners (IPs) on how to approach regulated firms and launched a consultation on that proposed guidance. This is of particular interest to individual investors because it guides the actions of IPs involved in Special Administrations, which occur when a broker fails. ShareSoc has been concerned about the Special Administration Regime (SAR) since we got involved with the Beaufort case. Clients with substantial portfolios were threatened with significant "haircuts" to their holdings, to ...

Press Release 115: ShareSoc Sends Open Letter to Aviva

Press release 115 - ShareSoc Sends Open Letter to Aviva ShareSoc is concerned about the remuneration review which was announced after the FCA censured Aviva, and is urging Aviva to claw back bonuses paid in 2018 and ensure cultural change at Aviva occurs. ShareSoc has warned Aviva in an Open Letter (see copy here) that a trivial remuneration adjustment would not be acceptable. Media contact: Cliff Weight, ShareSoc Director. ShareSoc, the UK Individual Shareholders Society ShareSoc is the UK's largest retail shareholder organisation acting in all areas of ...

New Year’s Remuneration Resolutions

By Cliff Weight, ShareSoc Director. I was asked to write an article on remuneration, which was my specialist subject before I retired. I thought ShareSoc readers might be interested in my musings which were published as the lead article in the specialist magazine Executive Compensation Briefing. My article is attached below (free). ecbjan21 pages 1-3    

0.1% shorting notification adopted by FCA – mirrors EU

On 6 January 2021, the Treasury published the Short Selling (Notification Thresholds) Regulations 2021 No. 5  to amend the notification threshold under Article 5(2) of the Short Selling Regulation from 0.2% to 0.1% of the issued share capital of an issuer. This change will come into force on 1 February 2021. This means that from 1 February 2021 the notification threshold for issued share capital of a company that has shares admitted to trading on a UK trading venue (UK Regulated Market and UK ...

ShareSoc AGM 2020 – Video recording

Please find below the recording of ShareSoc's 2020 AGM.

ShareCentre Flexi ISA query

A ShareSoc member has sent in this question. Can anyone help?  I currently hold an ISA with the Share Centre which is being taken over by Interactive Investor and I was interested to read Roger Lawson's article "Share Centre: The Future" in Issue 113.    In the past I had made use of the Share Centre's Flexi ISA and had assumed that the same facility would apply once my account was transferred over to Interactive Investor, but having checked with the Share Centre this ...

Press Release 114 : HM Treasury’s Call for Evidence re Review of UK Listing Rules

Press release 114 - Joint Press Release from ShareSoc & UKSA on behalf of individual investors: HM Treasury’s Callfor Evidence re Review of UK Listing Rules ShareSoc and UKSA recommend: AIM should be regulated by the FCA, not the LSE. Do not relax standards in the UK. We need to stop even more frauds, scams and scandals. Remove €8m limit in placings; and open up placings to all. The LSE has a poor track record on enforcement and is ...

Portfolio Review 2020 – Mark Bentley

Background I have not published a portfolio review for quite a while, as it's so time consuming to do. However, 2020 was an extraordinary year, so felt I really ought to see what went wrong, what went right and whether there were any lessons to learn. Before diving into the details, I need to explain my circumstances and investment strategy. I have been a full-time investor since 2004, living off a fixed pool of capital. Therefore, capital preservation whilst generating sufficient return to ...

UKSA and ShareSoc response to the IASB’s consultation on Business Combinations

On 31 Dec 2020 the UK Shareholders Association and ShareSoc submitted a joint response to The IASB’s Discussion Paper on Business Combinations – Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment (DP/2020/1) Our key messages are: We support the Board’s overall objective of enhancing disclosure on acquisitions and their subsequent performance. Current disclosure is extremely unsatisfactory. As a result we agree with the Board’s preliminary views set out in paragraph IN9 with the modifications and qualifications set out in this letter. We would also argue that ...

FCA Consultation
Consumer Investments Market Call for Input
ShareSoc’s response

A ShareSoc News item by ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight In our response we highlighted: The need for the system as a whole, including regulation, to work better for consumers We welcome the clear recognition in the CFI’s Foreword that there is indeed a problem - that there are suitable and inexpensive products, but people do not use them enough. In addition, that firms are not generally keen to promote them and that progress is slower than the FCA would like. The market ...
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