ShareSoc Blog
The ShareSoc blog provides news and informal commentary from directors, members and other contributors. Entries reflect the personal views of the authors, which do not necessarily reflect ShareSoc’s formal position. Contributors may hold shares in the companies mentioned. Nothing in this blog should be viewed as financial advice. You may submit comments on blog posts, but ShareSoc reserves the right to remove or edit inappropriate or defamatory submissions.
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The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc
An investment trust that I invest in, JP Morgan Global Growth and Income (JGGI) held an important general meeting today. The purpose of the meeting was to approve its takeover of another investment trust, The Scottish Investment Trust (SCIN).
I was shocked to read the RNS announcing the results of the general meeting issued this evening. Not shocked or surprised that the resolutions were overwhelmingly passed but ...
The value of the AIM market decreased by 30% in the first half of 2022, from £150 bn to £105 bn. The tech-heavy NASDAQ and the S&P have also suffered large declines. The FTSE 100 index is up by c 1% YTD. Of course, investing in the NASDAQ or S&P over the long term (20/30+ years) would have hugely better returns than the FTSE 100. These figures highlight the importance of asset allocation.
The severity of the AIM market decline was highlighted ...
The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc
There were announcements this morning (30/8/2022) from BHP Group (BHP) and Woodside Energy (WDS). Many BHP shareholders will also hold Woodside following the merger of the BHP oil/gas operations into Woodside. I continue to hold both having decided that now was not the time to exit a major gas producer.
Woodside announced half-year results and their Underlying Net Profit After Tax was up 414% on the ...
It was with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of Steve Holdsworth.
Friends of Steve cannot but have been infected by his bubbly enthusiasm for all the activities that he undertook. He was generous with his time and always helped when asked to do so. It was a real pleasure to share time with him at the many investor events that he loved to attend. It was really tough for Steve when Covid curtailed those events and he wasn’t able ...
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 ...
This article represents the views of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc.
Following on from the BBC Panorama programme on the Blackmore Bond scandal the Transparency Task Force have launched an attack on the competence of the Financial Conduct Authority – see https://www.transparencytaskforce.org/letters-to-mps-about-blackmore-bond/. It includes a letter you can send to your Member of Parliament asking for some reform.
I agree with most of their recommendations on how matters can be improved.
One issue I would also raise is that the Panorama ...
On 18 August 2022, UKSA and ShareSoc submitted a joint response to the Financial Reporting Council with our comments on their consultation on firm-level Audit Quality Indicators (AQIs). We made the following key points:
Definition of audit quality
We understand from its various recent publications that the FRC has a definition of high quality audits as audits that:
provide investors and other stakeholders with a high-level of assurance that financial statements give a true and fair view;
comply with both the spirit and the ...
This article represents the views of its author and not necessarily those of Sharesoc.
The BBC’s Panorama programme last night (on 16/8/2022) did a good job of pointing out the failure of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to prevent fraud on investors in “mini-bonds”. In this case the focus was on the collapse of Blackmore Bond where 2,000 people lost £46m when the company collapsed. But there have been several other similar cases.
Mini-bonds are unregulated investments so should only be sold to ...
The views expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of ShareSoc.
It has been suggested by articles in Investors Chronicle that now might be the time to venture back into the small cap market after a big fall in the share prices of such companies in the last year (the FTSE-AIM index is down by 27%). But investors in Treatt (TET) might not agree. After a profit warning this morning (15th August 2022) the share price ...
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 ...
