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Custodian Reit – It always pays to ask

A note from Mark Bentley: I have been a shareholder in the Custodian REIT (AIM:CREI) since its original flotation in March 2014. It has “done what it says on the tin”, investing in numerous small sized, high yielding commercial properties, to generate income, resulting in an attractive and growing dividend stream for investors. Given the low level of target gearing (25% of NAV), this is a low-risk strategy I find attractive, in this era of negligible interest rates. In January 2015 the ...

ShareSoc Company Seminar Announcement

The line-up for our next seminar at which public companies will be presenting on the 17th June is now available and registrations are now open. This event is in the City of London, with registration starting at 4.00 pm. Four companies will be presenting this month and answering your questions, which are: - MERCIA TECHNOLOGIES (MERC): An investment company focussed on growth technology businesses. - IDEAGEN (IDEA): Compliance based information management software. - ESCHER GROUP (ESCH): Provider of retail and message based software solutions. Plus one other company to be advised at a ...

Shareholder Friendly Approach from HarbourVest

For once it is good to see a company actively reach out to engage with its shareholders, something ShareSoc applauds and encourages. HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE) is a Guernsey registered investment trust, which invests primarily in global private equity funds-of-funds, managed by an affiliate of Boston based HarbourVest Partners LLC. It is a substantial trust with a market cap. in excess of $1bn. It is currently listed on the specialist funds market of the LSE, but has been planning a move ...

Rensburg AIM VCT Wind Up

Shareholders on the register of Rensburg AIM VCT will have received a letter from Bill Nixon of Maven Capital Partners. Maven are an experienced Venture Capital Fund manager and have experience of taking over the management of existing VCTs as the letter indicates. They are proposing to take over the management of the Rensburg AIM VCT instead of the company winding up as the board of directors has proposed. The company has previously announced that they propose to formally wind up via ...

A Dream Become a Nightmare – And a Plug for ShareSoc

There was a good article in the Daily Telegraph on Sunday (17/5/2015) explaining how Thatcher's dream of a share owning population has become a nightmare. She tried to create a nation of investors by privatisations and regulatory changes to improve business competition but instead many companies have ended up being sold to foreign buyers. Even worse there has been a collapse in private share ownership. The reported proportion of UK shares held by individuals has collapsed from 20% in 1994 to 11% ...