ShareSoc News

ShareSoc’s Response to the Retail Prices Index Consultation

ShareSoc submitted this response to the consultation on possible changes to the Retail Prices Index (RPI): RPI_Response

ShareSoc Launches AIM Company Rating System

PRESS RELEASE 41 (26/11/2012) ShareSoc has been concerned for some time with the quality of companies on AIM. Private investors often get sucked into investing in companies with poor corporate governance, poor basic infrastructure, no track record, and with incompetent or untrustworthy directors. New AIM IPOs are particularly problematic with companies frequently failing or subsequently delisting. But how can investors sort the wheat from the chaff? ShareSoc has devised a simple tool to help investors differentiate between good companies and those that ...

ShareSoc and First Flight issue Recommended Code of Conduct for Non-Executive Directors

PRESS RELEASE 38 (7/11/2012) The importance of having active and competent Non-Executive Directors (including Chairmen) in public companies cannot be over emphasised. They can make all the difference between the long term success or failure of a business, and are crucial when a company faces short term difficulties. But many major corporate failures or near disasters such as RBS, BP, Northern Rock, AIG, Enron and more recently Olympus, News Corporation, Barclays etc have been assigned to an “inability of the Non-Execs to exercise influence ...

ShareSoc Recommends Voting Against New Performance Fee at Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust

PRESS RELEASE 39 (24/10/2012) Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust Plc has announced proposals for a new Performance Fee for the managers of this private equity investment trust. Like other such trusts, it trades at a substantial discount to net asset value. To tackle this issue they decided on a change of investment policy some time ago which involves selling some of their investments in third party funds and returning cash to shareholders. This will of course reduce the size of the fund significantly. ...

ShareSoc Calls for Change at the Top of BAE Systems Plc

PRESS RELEASE 40 (23/10/2012) Following the collapse of the merger talks between BAE Systems and EADS, ShareSoc is launching a campaign which calls for the Chairman and Chief Executive of the company to step down. In our view the idea that this merger would gain the widespread support of shareholders (including the votes controlled by other European Governments in EADS) was misconceived from the beginning. In addition we have seen no good business justification put forward for the merger, and it potentially ...

ShareSoc welcomes Miliband focus on pension rip-off

PRESS RELEASE 37 (30/09/2012) In his speech today, Ed Miliband highlights the impact of pension provider fees on returns to savers. Even when costs are declared, they are not done in a way in which typical pension savers and small employers are likely to understand, according to a recent report for the insurance firm RSA by David Pitt-Watson. An extra 2% annual charge can result in a halving of the pension benefit paid out to savers. Not for profit organisation ShareSoc, advocates that pension savers ...

Intercede Group – an example of poor corporate governance and bad AGM procedures.

PRESS RELEASE 36 (28/09/2012) ShareSoc ran a campaign against the terms of an LTIP introduced in 2011 at Intercede Group, and on other aspects of this company. The LTIP was revised recently and we welcomed the change in a press release. But there are still many concerns about the corporate governance in this company as you will see from the following report. At the AGM on Wednesday Executive Chairman, Richard Parris, opened the meeting by declaring that all resolutions would be taken on ...

ShareSoc Issues New Recommendations for voting at the prospective Victoria Plc General Meeting

PRESS RELEASE 35 (18/09/2012) On the 28th August, ShareSoc issued voting recommendations for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Victoria Plc on the 31st August. We suggested shareholders should support the existing board based on what the company had stated concerning the past proposals from the “Concert Party” of Alexander Anton, Geoff Wilding, New Fortress Finance and other members of the Anton family. But a number of directors were removed at the AGM as more votes were submitted against their re-election than ...

ShareSoc Recommends Shareholders Support the Existing Board at Victoria

PRESS RELEASE 34 (28/08/2012) Bearing in mind the dispute between shareholders at Victoria Plc, ShareSoc (the “UK Individual Shareholders Society”), has considered the issues raised and recommends that shareholders support the stance of the existing board of directors and vote accordingly at the forthcoming General Meetings. According to the announcement made by the company on the 23rd August, the latest dispute has arisen because the “Former Directors” (Geoff Wilding, Alexander Anton and Sir Bryan Nicholson), who were all non-executive directors, proposed that an ...

ShareSoc Welcomes U-Turn on LTIP at Intercede

PRESS RELEASE 33 (21/08/2012) ShareSoc (the “UK Individual Shareholders Society”), welcomes the announcement today by Intercede Group that the terms of the LTIP devised in August 2011 have been revised. ShareSoc heavily criticised the original terms of that LTIP and subsequently formed a Shareholder Action Group to get it changed. In a note we issued in March 2012, we criticised the nominal cost of the options awarded under the LTIP, the illogical performance conditions which were based on eps when the company needed ...

ShareSoc Launches Campaign on Excessive Share Price Discount at Graphite Enterprise Trust

PRESS RELEASE 32 (15/08/2012) ShareSoc (the “UK Individual Shareholders Society”), has launched a Shareholder Action Group in relation to Graphite Enterprise Trust Plc. We have major concerns about the persistent discount to Net Asset Value (NAV) at which the shares of this company trade and some aspects of the corporate governance of the company. In the view of ShareSoc, and the shareholders in Graphite Enterprise whom we represent, the discount at which the company’s shares trade (about 34% at the time of writing) ...

ShareSoc Comments on the Kay Review Recommendations

PRESS RELEASE 31 (23/07/2012) ShareSoc welcomes many of the recommendations published today in the Kay Review of Equity Markets. Much of the analysis of the existing defects in the operation of the market and the returns obtained by investors is undoubtedly sound. We particularly applaud Recommendation 17 which says “The Government should explore the most cost effective means for individual investors to hold shares directly on an electronic register”. One of the key elements of our manifesto is that individual shareholders should be ...