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View all Representation →Consultations- Digitisation Taskforce – Final Report
- FCA Consults on Fund Product Information and Cost Disclosure CP24/30 – ShareSoc Responds
- FRC Consults on UK Stewardship Code – ShareSoc Responds
- FCA Consultation – Modernising Redress
- HMRC Consultation – IHT on Pensions
- ShareSoc Evidence to Lords on FCA Enforcement
- ShareSoc supports FCA proposal for criminal background checks on owners and controllers of financial institutions
- UK ISA: ShareSoc submits consultation response
- FCA Consultation on Enforcement Practice & Transparency
- ShareSoc response to House of Commons Education Select Committee
- UKSA and ShareSoc Submission to Labour Party Review of Financial Services
- FCA Consultation GC23/2 Financial Promotions on Social Media
- VIEW ALL CONSULTATIONS
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RTC Group – A Case Study in Shareholder Activism
Post Date: April 24, 2026
RTC faces two shareholder resolutions at its AGM on 27th May.
Key Takeaways for Investors:
The Resolutions (10 and 11): to appointment two independent NEDs to provide oversight and separate the CEO/Chair roles.
The Financials: RTC is debt-free with a £3.9m cash pile, yet trades at a significant P/E discount to its peers.
The Activist Group: led by David Stredder (acting in a personal capacity, but he is also a director of ShareSoc), representing 24% of the register.
The Goal: to unlock an estimated 50% valuation gap through better governance and cost control.
The AGM will be held at The Derby Conference Centre, DE24 8UX on 27 May at ...
Socially Useful Frenkel Topping (FEN): Another Opportunistic Takeover and Delisting
Post Date: November 6, 2025
Another week, another blatant example of the chronic undervaluation of UK small-cap companies, leading to a lowball takeover, that forces long-term individual shareholders out at a lowball valuation.
The AIM market, it seems, is becoming a hunting ground for opportunistic private equity firms to snatch up good businesses on the cheap.
I’ve written about this pattern before with Gusbourne, Dewhurst, and the particularly egregious case of Anexo. The latest name to add to this sorry list is Frenkel Topping (AIM: FEN).
I think this one is particularly cynical. Many ShareSoc members will ...
2026 FRC Stewardship Code – A significant improvement
Post Date: November 6, 2025
The UK Stewardship code, which sets out the core principles of effective stewardship and transparency for asset owners and asset managers, has just had a major overhaul. The revisions follow on from a consultation in early 2026, to which ShareSoc responded
The 2026 Code, which takes effect in January 2026, introduces three key changes:
First, the purpose of stewardship has been clarified. The new definition is simply:
"The responsible allocation, management and oversight of capital to create long-term sustainable value for clients and beneficiaries."
Reference to delivering benefits for the wider economy, environment, and society has ...
A Regulatory Catastrophe: The FCA and the Woodford Fund Debacle
Post Date: August 27, 2025
24 August 2025
The aftershocks of the collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF), once a titan of the UK's retail investment scene, continue to reverberate through the financial landscape.
Six years on from the fund’s ignominious suspension, the recent levying of a £46 million fine on Neil Woodford and his firm by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has done little to quell the simmering anger of hundreds of thousands of investors who saw their savings decimated.
This protracted scandal is a damning indictment ...
Activist Intervention in Investment Trusts and Shareholder Democracy
Post Date: December 20, 2024
This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc.
Saba Capital may be able to force changes due to shareholder apathy and disenfranchisement
I read this article today with interest and some concern. It describes an attack by hedge fund Saba Capital on seven investment trusts. The article names:
“The Baillie Gifford US Growth trust, Edinburgh Worldwide and Keystone Positive Change, are in the firing line as well as a pair of Janus Henderson trusts, the Henderson Opportunities ...
The Future of Smaller Company Capital Markets in the UK
Post Date: November 1, 2024
This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc.
New Financial Report Launched
On 17th October, I attended the launch of New Financial’s excellent report, which was held at the London Stock Exchange. I recommend reading the detailed version (c 35 pages), which I regard as required reading for all serious investors.
Full report
Summary of the report
My key takeaways:
Swedes are 5 times as likely to invest in shares than Brits. (Around 40% of Swedish adults have a simple and ...
How Boards Should Operate
Post Date: February 12, 2024
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 ...
M&S Shareholder Rights Petition: A Postmortem
Post Date: October 24, 2023
This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc.
With 4,292 signatures, the M&S petition failed to meet the threshold
The M&S Shareholder Rights Petition, led by Archie Norman and supported by ShareSoc, UKSA, The QCA and Equiniti, has closed after failing to meet the threshold of 10,000 signatures for a government review and 100,000 signatures for a parliamentary debate.
The petition aimed to help more investors engage with UK plcs by modernising the Companies Act, specifically:
Giving beneficial ...
Burford and Woodford compared
Post Date: October 12, 2023
This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc.
Different approaches from SEC and FCA
The Burford and Woodford cases highlight different US and UK practices.
In the US, the Judge explains the role of the litigation funder, justifies its role and why it should not affect his judgement.
In the UK, the FCA, in the case of Woodford and Link, is attempting to work with Link to allow the plaintiff to settle all its compensation claims for what has ...
RBS/NatWest: Has the leopard changed its spots?
Post Date: October 3, 2023
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 ...
BP Shareholder Meeting 19 April 2023 – Report
Post Date: April 26, 2023
This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc.
I attended the BP shareholder meeting on 19 April, held at the BP Head Office 1 St James’s Square, along with about 60 - 70 other shareholders. The meeting was organised by UKSA and ShareSoc members were also invited to attend.
The case for investing in BP shares is clear. They plan to grow ROACE to 18% with careful and limited capex split 50/50 between transition (green) energy ...
Paul Myners Obituary and BHP Unification Meetings
Post Date: January 21, 2022
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 ...
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