ShareSoc in the News

This page lists references to ShareSoc in the press and broadcast media.

Teesside Gazette, 28 Nov 2020, Sirius Minerals campaigners hold ‘next steps’ meeting for shareholders

The 8 Dec 5pm Virtual Meet for  Sirius (ex) shareholders and others interested was highlighted by the Teesside Gazette in an article in its business pages on 28 Nov, see https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/sirius-minerals-campaigners-hold-next-19345400 ShareSoc was extensively quoted.

Daily Mail, 24 Nov 2020, Roadside Recovery Firm AA Banks on £218m Private Equity Rescue

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-8979017/AA-banking-218m-private-equity-rescue.html quotes ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight who questions whether PE funds opportunistically sell their assets at inflated prices: Cliff Weight, director of small shareholders campaign group ShareSoc, said the AA's performance would raise further questions about private equity-backed floats in future. He said: 'In 2014 the private equity firms decided that they were better off selling the AA rather than holding on to it, after loading it up with almost £3bn in debts. It was floated with all the encouragement of the financial services ...

The Telegraph, 16 Nov 2020, Moderna briefed out market-moving Covid jab data before general release

In this article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/11/16/moderna-covid-vaccine-almost-95pc-effective/, The Telegraph quotes ShareSoc director, Mark Bentley: Mark Bentley, a board member of ShareSoc, which represents individual shareholders, called on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to look into the practice of companies releasing market-moving information under embargo. Institutional investors can use leaked information to inform decisions and this could be damaging to individual shareholders who effectively end up on the other side of those trades, he said. There is no evidence of leaks in this case. Mr Bentley said: “Market-sensitive information being disseminated widely, ...

FT, 21 Oct 2020, UK Dividends cuts deliver another blow to investors

The FT https://www.ft.com/content/0dc67672-7c6f-441a-a069-05f4828b0b2d reported on dividends' cuts including quotes from Cliff Weight of ShareSoc, 'Investor groups said they supported companies being “prudent”, but were worried about payouts. “Many private investors will be relying on dividends to fund their retirement,” said Cliff Weight, director of ShareSoc, a pressure group for small investors. He also pointed to what looked like an unsustainable situation before the pandemic, when dividends had been rising ever higher. “Everyone knew it was unlikely to continue.” '  I had a chat ...

The Times, 17 Oct 2020, Talktalk criticised over Toscafund takeover bid

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/talktalk-criticised-over-takeover-bid-9s6mptqgl Cliff Weight, director of individual investor campaigning at Sharesoc, which represents retail shareholders, said that it likes companies where the directors have “skin in the game” and “prima facie it looks like Dunstone and Ross will act in the best interests of shareholders”. However, he added: “We would prefer if there were a majority of independent directors on the board of any quoted company, as one of the duties of directors is to ensure the rights of minority shareholders are respected. It ...

Daily Mail, 26 Sep 2020, Boohoo Bosses Face Calls to Quit

Cliff Weight, the director of ShareSoc, said: 'It is undoubtedly shocking that these kind of third world factories exist in the UK. Mahmud Kamani needs to step aside whilst the board reviews his position.' https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-8774083/Boohoo-bosses-face-calls-quit-wake-sweat-shop-scandal-report.html This report highlights numerous concerns for investors, not least the way the AIM "Lite-touch" Regulation can lead to some governance disasters. Boohoo has only £900m of turnover but has a Mkt cap of  £4.71B and trades on a P/E ratio of 69.95. Shares this year have been highly volatile and hit a ...

Daily Mail, 29 Aug 2020, The Hut Group under fire over £4.5bn listing

Cliff Weight, ShareSoc director writes: I am quoted in the Daily Mail today questioning the corporate governance of The Hut: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-8675511/The-Hut-Group-fire-4-5bn-listing.html Cliff Weight, director of small investors' campaign group ShareSoc, said: 'This is awful corporate governance and I personally would be very wary. 'Share classes that give one type of shareholder more powers than another devalue the secondary class and are therefore undesirable. 'And a 'founder's share' which gives an individual exceptional powers is completely contrary to good corporate governance. Such rights seriously damage board ...

CityAM, 28 Aug 2020, Share and Share Alike: Electronically?

CityAM article on modernising share ownership https://www.cityam.com/share-and-share-alike-electronically/ quotes Cliff Weight, director of ShareSoc, the individual shareholders’ campaigning group, [who] is likeminded, preferring dividends to be paid directly into his bank or share-trading platform account. He is similarly in favour of the move towards digital systems for paper share certificates, albeit with an important caveat. “An electronic system is needed, but it must pass on my ownership rights to vote and receive information – far too many trading platforms fail to pass on these ...

International Financial Law Review, 13 Aug 2020, SRDII won’t be delayed

https://www.iflr.com/article/b1mxkgkglk3pkx/primer-shareholder-rights-directive-ii quoted ShareSoc, Better Finance and Cliff Weight extensively in its primer on SRD II implementation. It noted that: ...A second letter co-authored by shareholder rights advocate groups including ShareSoc, the UK Shareholders Association (UKSA), the European Federation of Investors, and Better Finance, argued “It is clear that the pandemic is being used as an excuse to further delay implementation,” the letter reads. “Intermediaries have not been proactive in facilitating voting and communication. At this stage, [they] should already have been prepared and ready to ...

FT, 7 Aug 2020, Will Digital AGMs Replace Meeting Directors Over a Prawn Sandwich?

The article https://www.ft.com/content/293817d5-4d70-44c6-bf49-148b2baff59f quoted ShareSoc Patron Lord Lee and ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight: ...For some investors, the reason to attend an AGM is in the chance to interact with a company in person, lost in a virtual world. “The value is in the margins, over coffee before and in the half-hour afterwards over a buffet lunch or another coffee,” says Lord John Lee, the private investor and FT columnist [and ShareSoc Patron]. “The board will always stay around for a period to ...