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Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance News

This section on Corporate Governance provides investors with the latest topical news plus some informal comments and insights from ShareSoc’s directors and other contributors.

Net Asset Value (NAV) Write-down at DGI9

This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Was fund manager Triple Point overpaid? As Sachin Saggar comments in this piece, it is inconceivable that the manager of Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9), a Jersey regulated closed-ended fund, did not know the NAV, on which basis they received fees, was materially overstated. It is time for the company to put the insurers of everyone involved on notice and for the Jersey regulator to step in and investigate Triple ...
Post Date: September 25, 2024 Read more

How and Why I’m Voting at Nationwide’s Upcoming AGM

This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. A personal view from ShareSoc Director, Mark Bentley Nationwide has chosen to hold its AGM online only, this year on 15th July. I believe that this will be a controversial AGM, so it is disappointing that the directors have chosen not to face Nationwide’s members in person. The chief source of controversy, in my opinion, was the board’s decision to acquire Virgin Money, without consulting its members. Now, I ...
Post Date: July 10, 2024 Read more

From ShareSoc member to Non-Executive Director (NED)

This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. First Impressions with Advice and Tips on Becoming a Non-Executive Director. As I sat on the train en route to my first board meeting, I took the opportunity to reflect on my experience on becoming a Non-Executive Director (NED) at ShareSoc. I would like to share my recent insights with you, which hopefully may be helpful for those considering advancing their careers with a Non-Executive Director role. In today's ...
Post Date: April 26, 2024 Read more

Investment trusts: time for boards to earn their corn

This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Why boards can't leave everything to the market. Or to the manager. Every morning I take the dog on a long walk, and usually listen to a podcast or two. One of my regulars is the Money Makers podcast, which is presented by investment trusts aficionado Jonathan Davis. Every week he has a couple of commentators on the sector, usually a manager and a generalist, often a broker or ...
Post Date: April 10, 2024 Read more

How Boards Should Operate

This article reflects the opinions of its author, Cliff Weight, and not necessarily those of ShareSoc.  ShareSoc member Barry Gamble’s letter to the FT  Black Box thinking and bad boards is a theme I return to again and again and which I first highlighted in a blog in March 2018 https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/corporate-governance/black-box-governance-thinking/ .  Woodford and Link are two other boards which failed woefully. Another case is the Post Office, about which the FT published the following letter from ShareSoc Member Barry Gamble (subscription required to ...
Post Date: February 12, 2024 Read more

RBS/NatWest: Has the leopard changed its spots?

This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Farage Fiasco forces CEO’s resignation; governance concerns at NatWest Dame Alison Rose stood down in July over the closure of Nigel Farage’s account by Coutts & Co, and more specifically over her indiscrete communications with the BBC on the matter. Alison Rose clearly made a huge blunder in chatting to Simon Jack, the BBC news editor, about a customer’s personal financial information. I’m sure she will kick herself until the ...
Post Date: October 3, 2023 Read more

A Tale of Two Investment Trusts

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Salutary Lessons for Directors and Shareholders of Trusts Investing in Alternative Assets  Usually, the role of non-executive director at an investment trust is a bit of a sinecure. Most investment trusts invest in stocks and bonds. Their portfolios are easy to value and there is little scope for misdeeds. Most such trusts publish their NAVs daily. The principal role for NEDs of such trusts is to ...
Post Date: September 9, 2023 Read more

Home REIT – A Personal Viewpoint

This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Initial Period  Home REIT (HOME) appeared to offer rather an attractive proposition. It was intended to purchase residential properties and lease them at affordable rents to charities and public bodies (“the tenants”) providing accommodation for the homeless. The rent was supposed to be covered by housing benefits paid directly to the tenants, i.e. fully government backed. Rental income was expected to be sufficient to support a dividend of at ...
Post Date: March 6, 2023 Read more

Investment Trust fees – should they be based on market cap or NAV?

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Should Investment Trusts (including VCTs)  base their fees on market cap and not Net Asset Value? In the case of of Chrysalis Investments (CHRY), the 58% discount to NAV means the 0.77% fees as a % of NAV are in excess of 1.5% of market cap, which in my opinion is egregious:   A story in Investment Week "Chrysalis managers stand by unlisted holdings" https://www.investmentweek.co.uk/4055056/ also highlighted the ...
Post Date: August 25, 2022 Read more

Gore Street Energy Fund Dividend Waiver and Directors’ Jobs

The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. At the forthcoming Annual General Meeting of Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF) in addition to the usual resolutions shareholders are asked to approve a whitewash of the illegal past payments of dividends (resolution 15). This regularly happens when a company fails to file a statement of distributable reserves at Companies House showing it has sufficient reserves to cover the dividend. It seems to happen ...
Post Date: August 15, 2022 Read more

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 ...
Post Date: January 21, 2022 Read more

A Bumper Edition of Investors Chronicle

The opinions expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Over the Christmas period we were treated to a bumper edition of the Investors’ Chronicle. And I have to say that this magazine has improved of late under the editorship of Rosie Carr. Whether she has a bigger budget or is just picking better writers I do not know but she certainly deserved the job after working for the magazine for many years. I’ll pick out ...
Post Date: January 1, 2022 Read more

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