ShareSoc in the News

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

FTSE 100 Company holds AGM in Spain. IAG tone deaf?

This is the Personal View Point of Cliff Weight and does not necessarily reflect ShareSoc Policy. Cliff Weight is a director of ShareSoc. Cliff does not own shares in IAG. A good, well run AGM is a sign of a good company with a good culture. An AGM at an inconvenient time in an inconvenient location is a red flag. IAG's 2022 shareholders’ meeting will be held on Thursday 16 June 2022 at 12 noon (CEST).  The meeting will take place in Madrid at Edificio Mutua Madrileña, Paseo de ...

Aviation Pros, 13 June 2022, British Airways Owner Flies in to Pay Storm

ShareSoc director Cliff Weight was quoted sharing his views on IAG's decision to hold its AGM in Spain. "It's a lot of money so they should provide a meeting in London — where most of their shareholders can get to more easily — as well as the formal AGM in Madrid. 'It strikes me that the directors want to hide from their shareholders, who have seen their share price reduce by 75 per cent [since 2020] and are appalled at these egregious remuneration increases." Click here to ...

This is Money, 04 June 2022, Dividends paid by cheque to shareholders are being axed by Abrdn – in latest move towards a cashless society

ShareSoc's patron Lord Lee of Trafford commented on Abrdn's decision to stop paying dividends by cheque. "It is not just older people, but also youngsters who need to appreciate the value of money and might like to have a cheque arriving in the post when a dividend payment is due.  There is no doubt dividends paid by bank transfer are more convenient for many people, but it should not be mandatory. Investors must be given the choice.' Click here to read the article.

FT, 03 June 2022, Antidotes to pessimism in the UK’s audit reforms

Click here to read the article ShareSoc director Cliff Weight co-signed a letter published in the FT.  "In a perfect world for users of company accounts, reform of the UK’s audit and corporate governance regime would include a UK version of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This US law requires chief executives and finance directors to sign up to the truthfulness of material facts, and external audit of the effectiveness of internal controls. As your report notes (“Audit regulation shake-up to be diluted”, Report, May ...

This is Money, 18 May 2022, We must ban AGM chauvinists for life: Campaigners demand action after Aviva chief exec Amanda Blanc faced barrage of sexist insults

The Daily Mail makes the point that misogynistic offenders at AGMs should know the likely outcome of unacceptable behaviour.. a RED card. Quoting both ShareSoc and UKSA Directors. Click here to read the article.

FT, 13 May 2022, Don’t dismiss Aviva’s sexist AGM as a one-off

Click here to read the article The FT covers the unacceptable behaviour of a wayward attendee at the Aviva AGM and quotes ShareSoc's Director Cliff Weight. ShareSoc is appalled at the misogynistic comments directed at the Aviva CEO, Amanda Blanc, but is concerned that a narrative may being created that could result in the lessening of individual investors key role in holding Boards to account at AGMs. The vast majority of individual investors attending AGMs do nor behave like this. We do however, ...

Investment Week, 15 March 2022, Calls grow for FCA to end ‘deafening silence’ as Woodford update ‘adds insult to injury’

ShareSoc director Cliff Weight is quoted in this article by Investment Week. Journalist James Baxter-Derrington asks why hundreds of thousands of investors in Woodford are still waiting for something from the FCA. (Subscription may be required)

Investor’s Chronicle, 6 Jan 2022, Are all shareholders equal?

Click here to read the article Investor's Chronicle published an opinion piece where the author states that individual investors have more chance of meeting companies if they are members of organisations like ShareSoc. Why exclude small shareholders? That comes down to diary pressure. When I worked in investor relations, we had to reserve dates several months in advance. The largest long-term shareholders had priority. A few were met twice a year rather than just the once. We favoured large potential long-term investors over ...

Investors’ Chronicle, 17 Dec 2021, Bacanora deal gets Mexican backing

Click here to read the article Investor's Chronicle quoted ShareSoc director Cliff Weight in an article about Bacanora. ShareSoc has provided strong opposition to the deal: Cliff Weight from the group said it was incomprehensible why major shareholders like M&G would irrevocably support a deal that didn’t have a final offer stamp on it. In another letter to the Bacanora board last month, ShareSoc asked the board to “negotiate a better offer”, given investors had kicked in $65m in a capital raise earlier this ...

FT, 17 Nov 2021, Scaled back UK audit reforms attract investor anger

Click here to read the article ShareSoc has been mentioned in the Financial Times on 17/11/21. The article focusses on how investors and audit groups have urged the UK government to rethink plans to scale back corporate governance and audit reforms, arguing that any watering down of the proposals would risk further corporate scandals.   Investor groups also expressed their alarm. In a joint letter last week to the FT, CFA UK, Corporate Reporting Users’ Forum, UK Shareholders’ Association and ShareSoc also criticised plans to ...

Investor’s Chronicle, 29 Oct 2021, Better to give than take away

Click here to read the article Investor's Chronicle quotes and concurs with ShareSoc's view that the FCA's newly approved Long Term Asset Fund (LTAF) an illiquid open ended fund should have been consigned to the scrap heap and definitely not before their report into Woodford is published. Nevertheless, LTAFs are on their way. In their response to the FCA’s consultation, ShareSoc and the UK Shareholder Association didn’t mince their words: the LTAF proposal should be consigned to the scrap heap, and no ...

FT, 22 Oct 2021, Getting heard on climate: small investors take on big companies

Click here to read the article Alice Ross, FT Deputy Editor, has written a major article about how "Retail shareholders can get organised and can push for change if they band together". The article focusses on the successes of the pressure group ShareAction who have successfully used their AGM Army to ask questions at AGMs and lobby for change. However, Cliff Weight and ShareSoc are also quoted at some length.   One problem for retail investor engagement, however, is that the vast majority remain uninvolved. ...