Education

Social Media Etiquette

Post Date: February 13, 2020

Ground rules and etiquette on social media ShareSoc is appalled that threats are being made towards Sirius’ senior management and their families on social media and otherwise. The SSSG leadership team (Chris Spencer Phillips, Yashmin Ismail, Mark Jones, Ian Martignetti, Paul De Gruchy and Cliff Weight) wish to make it totally clear that we do not condone such actions. ShareSoc will ensure any such comments are removed from ShareSoc’s website and Forums it operates. Please note that making threats and libel are offences in law. Cliff ...

Learning about investing – thanks to ShareSoc

Post Date: January 3, 2020

It is always interesting to look backwards as well as forwards as an investor and no better time than at the turn of the year. First of all, I...

How Long Will You Live?

Post Date: September 6, 2019

There was an interesting article recently published by Schroders on life expectancy. This can be quite critical to making investment decisions when you retire, if not before, or if...

Inspiration from a Young Investor

Post Date: August 18, 2019

I would like to commend Ryan and Piworld for recording a truly inspirational video interview, for investors young and old. Though Ryan (@ryankia2 on Twitter) is only 17 years old, he has been investing for 6 years, with exceptional results. He has also mentored other young investors, and offers market commentary on his own website: https://www.quantiumresearch.co.uk/ ShareSoc seeks to encourage other young investors to follow Ryan's diligent example: building a starting investment "pot", learning the basics of investment, developing an investment strategy and ...

Mello Trust and Funds Event and ShareSoc AGM

Post Date: May 19, 2019

I managed to attend part of the Mello Trust and Funds Event in West London yesterday and although I had other commitments today, I may manage to attend the second day of the main Mello 2019 event tomorrow. If you have not attended one of these events before, it is definitely worth doing so. The only slight criticism I would have is that getting to Chiswick from South East London where I live via the slow District Line is not great. ...

Learn from experts at the Mello Investment Trust and Funds Conference

Post Date: April 7, 2019

Educating investors is one of ShareSoc’s primary objectives. If you have not recently visited the ShareSoc Investor Academy then I recommend you do so. We continue to add to and improve the site. https://www.sharesoc.org/investor-academy/ One of the best ways to learn about investing is to listen to experts and the Mello Investment Trust and Funds Conference on 15th May is an excellent opportunity to do so. Of particular interest may be the sector experts who can highlight the key performance indicators and the ...

The Signs Were There – Corporate Disasters and How to Avoid Them

Post Date: January 7, 2019

This is a review of the recently published book entitled “The Signs Were There” by Tim Steer. It’s worth reading by any investor who invests directly in stock market shares, but particularly by those new to the game. Experienced investors will know about many of the causes of companies collapsing, and how accounts can deceive, from their own past experiences. But it’s best to learn what to look for in other ways. The book covers many UK examples of corporate disasters - ...

Confessions of a Tax Avoider

Post Date: November 7, 2017

There have been extensive reports in the press about revelations contained in the so-called "Paradise Papers". One of the most intriguing of these has been the accusation of tax avoidance levelled at the Duchy of Lancaster, part of the Queen's private estate. I was therefore interested to read the details contained in this article in the Financial Times... and from it, I learnt that I am a tax avoider too! Before moving on to the specific issue, I will just point out ...

ShareSoc fully supports the Better Finance Report on Pension Savings and its recommendations

Post Date: October 11, 2017

ShareSoc is a member of the Pan-European organisation Better Finance and commented “This is an important report that highlights the harm that inadequate returns give to long term savers. High fees are also hurting returns. The UK Pensions Fund are valued at £3.8 trillion and are by far the largest in Europe. It is important that the UK lead the way in this area. The recent appointment by the FCA of Chris Sier to chair the panel on costs disclosure is another ...

Guide to ShareSoc’s new Events Page

Post Date: July 6, 2017

As part of the redevelopment of ShareSoc's website, we have enhanced our directory of events. Our aim is that it should be the "go to" place for investors in the UK wishing to find out about interesting events relating to investment. We therefore list not only our own events, but any worthwhile investment related events from 3rd parties (subject to our editorial control). If you know of any upcoming event which we have not listed, please let us know. The main body of ...

Interesting FT Articles on Fund Performance , Nick Train and Executive Pay

Post Date: February 28, 2017

There have been some very interesting articles in the FT in the last few days. On the 25th February John Authers discussed market timing and passive versus active management. He quoted consumer research group Dalbar who have compared active and passive funds. Although passive funds have beaten active funds in the long term, because of their lower costs, investors in active funds have received higher returns in the last 15 years. How can that be? It's because to quote: "Holders of ...

Asset Management Market Study

Post Date: February 22, 2017

I commented previously on the FCA's Asset Management Market Study, which suggested there was weak competition in this market. Needless to say, most asset managers do not seem to agree. ShareSoc has now submitted a response to the questions raised in that document which you can read here: Asset-Management-Market-Study-Response-2017-02-21. In summary, we agree with the general conclusions and support regulatory intervention where necessary. We also note that although the study does not address the issue directly of financial education, it is our view ...

Education

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