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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 ...

Share Power Book Review

Book Review by ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight Brilliant, insightful, fun and easy to read short book on how ordinary people can change the way that capitalism works. Merryn Somerset Webb’s Share Power is a page turner. I recommend all ShareSoc members buy a copy and read its 145 pages. Should companies care about climate change? Should they be vanquishing the gender pay gap? Should they be advancing human rights in their supply chains? With 11 million people owning shares directly or indirectly, it’s ...

Trouble Brewing at Hargreave Hale AIM VCT?

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. I have been a shareholder in Hargreave Hale AIM VCT (HHV) for quite some time and have been happy with the tax free dividend stream they have sent me over the years. As usual, I recently received the AGM proxy form for the 3rd February AGM and was reviewing the annual report when something caught my attention. An investee company called Honest Brew (HB), which ...

Paul Myners Obituary and BHP Unification Meetings

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Lord Myners has died at the age of 73. He had a big hand in the rescue of the banks in the financial crisis of 2008 as a Treasury Minister in the Labour Government after becoming the socialists’ favourite capitalist. He was also responsible for the Myners Report into institutional investment which had some influence on corporate governance and institutional stewardship in the UK. I met ...

Cladding Rectification – Persimmon et al.

The views expressed in this article represent those of the author, not necessarily those of ShareSoc. My first big investment mistake of the year came to light yesterday. In October last year I started to buy a holding in Persimmon (PSN). The outlook for the housing market seemed bright and the company was trading on a prospective p/e of 11 with a yield of 8.6%. Revenue and earnings growth were forecast for the next couple of years. But Michael Gove yesterday put a ...