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Active Management and Collective Action

An article in yesterday's FT (16/3/2015) on active investment management, versus passive, by Sophia Grene prompted some thoughts on the topic of "public goods". Passive management is where a manager is simply tracking an index whereas active managers are actually making their own investment decisions. Active management typically costs more to the investor, on the premise that more work is required to be put in by the manager, but they argue that it is justified because they can outperform the market. ...

MeetInvest – a Warning

ShareSoc was recently invited to promote a new web service named MeetInvest to our members. The email said that it provides a "tool for selecting stocks using the exact success formula of some of the world’s foremost investors including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Jim Slater or John Templeton". Of course anyone who thinks that Warren Buffett was successful based on a simple stock screening system is surely misinformed, but I thought it was worth trying out and reviewing. The promotional videos are ...

Alliance Trust Under Attack

Alliance Trust, an investment trust held by many private investors, is coming under attack for poor performance and poor corporate governance for a second time. It defeated a campaign by Laxey Partners back in 2011, and although their AGM resolutions were defeated the company did subsequently make some changes - for example more share buy-backs were done to help control the share price discount. This time it is the turn of Elliott Advisors who control over 12% of the shares. They ...

ShareSoc Company Seminar Announcement

The next ShareSoc Company Seminar will be on the 21st April. Registrations are now open. This event is in the City of London (in the usual FinnCap offices venue), commencing...

50 Years at Berkshire Hathaway – Warren Buffett’s Annual Report

Warren Buffett is widely viewed as the most successful investor in modern times, primarily because of his consistent record in outperforming market indices. His Berkshire Hathaway investment vehicle is the largest conglomerate in the world as he holds not just stakes in publicly quoted companies but a wide range of wholly owned operating companies. He has recently published the latest edition of his annual letter to investors and as usual there are some pithy comments in there from which everyone can ...