Blog

ShareSoc Blog

This blog gives you the latest topical news plus some informal comments on them from ShareSoc’s directors and other contributors. These are the personal comments of the authors and not necessarily the considered views of ShareSoc. The writers may hold shares in the companies mentioned. You can add your own comments on the blog posts, but note that ShareSoc reserves the right to remove or edit comments where they are inappropriate or defamatory.

There is more news given in the News page of our web site and more analysis of news is provided in our monthly newsletter for members – see the Newsletters page.

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FCA Consultation GC23/2 Financial Promotions on Social Media

  ShareSoc and UKSA have responded to the FCA’s consultation on financial promotions via social media. We express concern that less experienced investors are vulnerable to simplistic and potentially misleading messages published via social media, which may tempt them into unsuitable, high-risk, investments. We therefore propose stricter regulation of social media messaging that may encourage inappropriate investment. Mark Bentley, Director, ShareSoc

SIGnet Investors Network Launches New Beginners’ Group 

  SIGnet is excited to announce the launch of a new Beginners’ Group, for those in the early stages of their investing career. The Conveners for the Beginners’ Group will be Paul Fisher and John Calvert, of the Signet Leeds Originals and Leeds Veritas Groups. Both have been SIGnet members and keen investors for many years. Bill Fawkner-Corbett, Head of SIGnet and a member of the Central London, Leeds Originals and US Groups, who has been investing (on and off) for 50 years, ...

ShareSoc and UKSA Response to Digitisation Task Force Interim report

  In this article we highlighted the significance of the interim report issued by Sir Douglas Flint on behalf of the Digitisation Taskforce (DT) and our concerns about it.  After careful deliberation, ShareSoc and UKSA have now submitted this response to Sir Douglas. Special thanks are due to Mohammed Amin, who co-ordinated our joint response.  We express concern that the proposals in the interim report do not fulfil the DT’s terms of reference. In particular, they do not ensure that the rights of current ...

Diageo plc Information and Vote Guidance 2023

AGM:  28 September 2023 Proxy deadline:  26 September 2023 ShareSoc provide this added value voting information service for Full Members only, providing background information on leading companies and AGM vote guidance. Below are links to the: 1. Stockopedia summary report. 2. Minerva Vote recommendations for the 28 September 2023 AGM based on their standard template. 3. Minerva detailed research report for the AGM. Summary of voting issues at this year’s AGM  The Minerva report highlights various issues and recommends voting against two of the resolutions. Readers should make their own ...

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 ...

Ashtead Group plc Information and Vote Guidance 2023

AGM:  6 September 2023 Proxy deadline:  4 September 2023 ShareSoc provide this added value voting information service for Full Members only, providing background information on leading companies and AGM vote guidance. Below are links to the: 1. Stockopedia summary report. 2. Minerva Vote recommendations for the 6 September 2023 AGM based on their standard template. 3. Minerva detailed research report for the AGM. Summary of voting issues at this year’s AGM  The Minerva report highlights various issues and recommends voting against two of the resolutions. Readers should make their own ...

Widening retail participation in European equity markets

This article reflects the opinions of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. A thematic summary of a recent event hosted by New Financial Retail participation in equity markets  Investing in public equity markets can be a great way for individuals to improve their long-term financial security. It can also help to democratize wealth creation, connect issuers to their owners, and connect the financial services industry with the people it exists to serve.  However, retail engagement in equity markets and retail investment has fallen ...

How to Format Posts in the ShareSoc and SIGnet Online Forums

Our online forums offer the capability of posting formatted content. However, it is not very clear how to format posts and how to include links and images.  We have now produced this video which shows users of our forums how to use the formatting tools that are available.  We hope that our members find this helpful. You need to be logged in to our website to make full use of our forums, which enable online discussions and posting of useful information and/or questions ...

Flint Interim Report: A Betrayal?

Background ShareSoc’s Shareholder Rights Campaign has been one of our longest running and most important campaigns. The reason it is so important is that current deficiencies in the rights of beneficial shareholders severely hamper our ability, and that of shareholder action groups generally, to hold company managements to account. This impacts the effectiveness of many of our other campaigns. Visit the campaign page for further details and further explanation of the issues. Since we launched the campaign in 2014, we have made considerable ...

Corporate Reporting and Audit Regulations

Further to our response to a BEIS consultation, the government has now published new draft regulations concerning corporate reporting, including measures that companies are taking to detect and prevent fraud.  The draft regulations are expected to be debated in parliament this autumn. If approved by Parliament, the Regulations will come into force on 1st January 2025.  The draft regulations implement the following four new reporting requirements for very large companies that were consulted on in the 2021 White Paper on ‘Restoring Trust in ...
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