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Hargreaves Lansdown and opaque accounts

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.), who claim to be the largest UK investment platform, announced their Preliminary Results yesterday (9/9/2015). I have made some comments recently about the benefits stockbrokers receive from client cash funds, and in particular the fact that dividends received by holders of nominee accounts are received and retained by the broker unless asked for, instead of being paid direct to the shareholder as happens when you are on the share register. So I thought it useful to look at ...

Amlin and Glencore – Market surprises, but not at Berkeley

This morning a takeover bid for insurer Amlin was announced by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance. A cash offer of 670p which represents a premium of 34.5% to last nights closing price. With Amlin having been warning for some time about increased competition in the catastrophe insurance sector, this is surely a done deal assuming they can get over any regulatory hurdles. I was going to write that unlike many mega deals the news seemed not to have leaked out in advance, but it's ...

Private Individuals Own More of the Stock Market

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) have published their latest survey of share ownership in UK companies. Historically there has been a long term trend for individuals to own less as a proportion of the overall market. But the latest figures tell a different story. From historic lows of 10% in 2010 and 2012, the figures for 2014 show an increase to 12%. The proportion owned by the "Rest of the World" (which might also include some individuals) remains the highest at ...

Natural resource companies – only themselves to blame? And BHP Billiton results.

I believe John Redwood recently said that it was odd that commodity prices have been falling while Chinese demand has been steadily rising as forecast. As their economy turns more to retail consumption, the demand for consumer products and energy which drive the commodity markets has been rising as China is definitely the elephant in the room in terms of its influence on global demand. An article in the Daily Telegraph by Ian McVeigh on Friday (28/8/2015) explains this conundrum, with a ...

An Unpardonable Inequity

There was a great article on the nominee system by John Hughman in FT Money yesterday (see www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7aaee6fe-4ca9-11e5-b558-8a9722977189.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3kHgbWFFq ). Under the heading of "The unpardonable inequity that blights UK equities", John spelled out in simple terms why nominee accounts are indefensible. They deprive shareholders of their rights in the name of convenience and cost which are myths promoted by brokers for their commercial advantage. Here's one pithy quote from the article: "In fact, I'll go further - it is an indefensible embarrassment ...