ShareSoc News

Press Release – ShareSoc & Edison join forces

Edison and ShareSoc join forces to improve access to investment information Investor Relations expert Edison has joined forces with ShareSoc, the UK’s premier membership organisation for individual investors to improve access to listed company information via innovative delivery channels. ShareSoc has been a fervent campaigner for improved individual investor access to information and research on listed companies, to facilitate more informed investment decisions, to exercise shareholders’ rights and to promote stewardship at the individual shareholder level. Edison is a leading provider of Research and ...

FCA Consultation – Modernising Redress

An FCA consultation on how to improve the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and other consumer redress mechanisms  In November 2024, the FCA issued this consultation, requesting suggestions for improvements to handling complaints/disputes regarding financial services, especially so-called “mass redress events”.   Many of ShareSoc’s campaigns involve situations where numerous individual investors have suffered losses in circumstances that we believe should not have arisen. So, we have considerable experience of representing and trying to obtain redress in such circumstances.  We are lucky to have recently recruited ...

HMRC Consultation – IHT on Pensions

ShareSoc responds to the Chancellor’s proposals on the application of IHT to residual pensions.  Following the budget last autumn, HMRC launched a technical consultation on the implementation of the Chancellor’s proposals to apply inheritance tax (IHT) to unused pensions, upon the death of the pension beneficiary. Note that the consultation explicitly states: As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, from 6 April 2027 most unused pension funds and death benefits will be included within the value of a person’s estate for Inheritance Tax purposes and ...

Press Release – ShareSoc Warns of Serious Governance Issues in Saba Capital’s Proposals

ShareSoc, the UK’s premier organisation for individual investors, has serious concerns about the governance risks posed by Saba’s proposals, which seek to replace independent boards with its own non-independent representatives in all 7 trusts, award itself the investment management mandates, combine the trusts into a larger vehicle and use that vehicle to acquire further trusts at a discount. ShareSoc acknowledges performance concerns raised by Saba Capital Management against some, but not all, of the seven investment trusts targeted by Saba. However, ShareSoc notes ...

Imperial Brands plc Information and Vote Guidance 2025

AGM: 29th January 2025 Proxy deadline: 27th January 2025  ShareSoc provide this added value voting information service for Full Members only, providing background information on leading companies and AGM vote guidance. Below are links to the: 1. Stockopedia summary report. 2. Minerva Vote recommendations for the 29th January 2025 AGM based on their standard template. 3. Minerva detailed research report for the AGM. Summary of voting issues at this year’s AGM  The Minerva report highlights various issues and recommends voting against one of the resolutions. Readers should make their own ...

Compass Group plc Information and Vote Guidance 2025

AGM: 6th February 2025 Proxy deadline: 4th February 2025 ShareSoc provide this added value voting information service for Full Members only, providing background information on leading companies and AGM vote guidance. Below are links to the: 1. Stockopedia summary report. 2. Minerva Vote recommendations for the 6th February 2025 AGM based on their standard template. 3. Minerva detailed research report for the AGM. Summary of voting issues at this year’s AGM  The Minerva report highlights various issues and recommends voting against four of the resolutions. Readers should make their own ...

Should ShareSoc become a Charity? We need your advice/help if you have relevant charity experience.

  Have you ever been involved in running or setting up a charity? We are reviewing ShareSoc’s status and we believe some of our members might have valuable insights. If you have relevant experience, we would love to pick your brains on the key decisions and process. Please contact info@sharesoc.org if you can help. ShareSoc is currently a not-for-profit enterprise. We are reviewing the possibility of achieving charitable status. Much of our activity including education, research and campaigns with societal benefits appear to ...

SIGnet Launches New US Small Cap Group

  SIGnet is excited to announce the launch of a new online group for those who are interested in investing in US small caps. Investors of all levels of experience are welcome to join. The Convener for the Group will be Matt Plummer. Matt is an experienced investor with a concentrated portfolio focussed on small caps; recently he has invested more in US small caps. Matt looks for companies growing quickly, where the market is underestimating the impact of the growth on the ...

RGL Woodford Group Litigation Claim vs Hargreaves could reach £1 billion

The RGL Woodford Group Litigation against Hargreaves Lansdown so far comprises some 7,000 claimants with more being added every day. RGL has informed us that the average claimant had approximately £20,000 invested and that the average claim value (including the opportunity loss) is also in the region of £20,000. 133,000 Hargreaves clients had £1billion+ invested in Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) at the point of suspension on 19th June 2019, so the potential value of the group claim is substantially larger than ...

Press Release 131 – ShareSoc Endorses RGL Claim

ShareSoc, the UK’s premier individual investor association, has endorsed the RGL Woodford Group Litigation against Hargreaves Lansdown. The RGL Woodford Group Litigation alleges that Hargreaves Lansdown continued to recommend investing in the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) even after they apparently knew of liquidity issues in the fund from November 2017 Over 133,000 potential claimants held WEIF via the Hargreaves Lansdown platform The RGL Woodford Group now comprises over 5,000 claimants, with a combined claim of approximately £140 million The RGL ...

SIGnet Launches New Farnham Group in Surrey

SIGnet is excited to announce the launch of a new in-person group based in Farnham, Surrey. Investors of all levels of experience are welcome to join. The Convener of the Group will be David Stredder, who will be known to many of you as the founder of Mello, organiser of in person investment conferences and virtual Mello Mondays. David is also a director at ShareSoc and has been investing in quoted shares since the 1980s, with a focus on UK small caps. ...

Woodford Campaign Update 17 – ShareSoc Endorses the RGL Woodford Group Litigation

  ShareSoc believes that the potential benefits of the RGL Woodford Group Litigation against Hargreaves Lansdown outweigh the identified risks for the vast majority of claimants, and that it is in the interest of affected investors to participate. On this basis, ShareSoc has chosen to endorse the claim. The RGL Woodford Group’s legal team has commenced proceedings against Hargreaves Lansdown, alleging that HL continued to recommend the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) despite apparently being aware of its liquidity issues from November 2017. ...