ShareSoc News

Will The FCA Help or Harm Home REIT Shareholders?

The FCA has finally stepped in, but will this help shareholders or just devalue their investment further? The destruction of shareholder value at Home REIT has been horrendous. Over £853m was raised from shareholders. The latest published valuation of the REIT’s property portfolio is only £413m (as at August 2023) and the trust has net debt of around £144m (as at February 2024), so NAV is now less than £369m. The background to this sorry saga is contained in this article by ShareSoc ...

Woodford Campaign Update 16, 15 February 2024

WOODFORD: LINK JUDGMENT AND NEXT STEPS Mr Justice Richards approved the Link Scheme of Arrangement (subject to appeal) without any conditions. This was expected, given the 93% vote in favour by Scheme Creditors, but it doesn't close the door on the Woodford scandal. In a tight and carefully worded legal judgment, the Judge explained that the “FCA Total Amount” of harm identified (£298 million) relates only to the relative loss of value incurred by those who held the fund at suspension date relative ...

Human Impact of the Hartley Pensions Case and ShareSoc’s Role

The FT reports on the impact of the Hartley Pensions case on Hartley’s clients: https://www.ft.com/content/3e4bbd98-7d99-4dce-93eb-2c747aad1ce5  It’s been a nightmare for clients since Hartley went into Administration in July 2022.  ShareSoc provided heavy support to Hartley clients over the last year and as part of the Administrator’s client committee.  In the comments on the FT article someone asked: "What process is used to ensure that the administrator fees (c.£2k per pension pot released) are reasonable?". In the absence of FSCS support, ShareSoc has been battling ...

What ShareSoc can do for retail investors

Mike Dennis, ShareSoc Director, is interviewed for Hardman Talks Mike Dennis, ShareSoc Director, was recently interviewed by Keith Hiscock of Hardman Talks. In this interview Mike talks about the work of ShareSoc, including its campaigning for retail investors’ interests in particular cases, such as the Woodford catastrophe; how ShareSoc represents retail in submissions to various government enquiries; and other resources that ShareSoc provides, including tutorials for beginner investors, an extensive website and a regional face-to-face meeting network for like-minded investors. Click here to ...

ShareSoc response to House of Commons Education Select Committee

On 24 January 2024, ShareSoc submitted its response to the enquiry (click here to read the whole response), where we stressed the importance of educating about savings and investment and the potential role that ShareSoc could play to support teachers, e.g. via the use of ShareSoc Investing Basics videos and the ShareSoc Investor Academy. The House of Commons Education Committee will examine the current state of financial education in England and consider what steps need to be taken to ensure its delivery ...

UKSA and ShareSoc Submission to Labour Party Review of Financial Services

  UKSA and ShareSoc have made the attached submission to the Labour Party’s review, highlighting the issues with the current financial services market that most concern us. 

Woodford Campaign Update 15

An update following the court hearing on 18th and 19th January Justice Richards reserved his judgement on whether to Sanction the Link Scheme at the end of the Hearing on 18/19 January. It is now expected early in February. Initially, he plans to circulate a draft to those who were represented at the Scheme Hearing. Schemes of Arrangement (a mechanism generally used for insolvencies and mergers) are normally relatively straightforward with judgement announced on the day. The delay suggests that, at the very ...

2024 Macro Outlooks

New ShareSoc Investor Academy resources just for ShareSoc Full members A new resource hub for those interested in the bigger picture and how it might affect your investing strategy: includes a wide variety of downloadable Macro level financial and economic analysis, offering a wide array of perspectives and insights from leading financial entities and experts. It features a comprehensive list of links to PDFs and reports from various banks, asset managers, private equity firms and other financial institutions. Click here to access the ...

Digitisation Taskforce Interim Report follow up

ShareSoc and UKSA continue to work closely on the important issue of shareholder rights. We wrote to Sir Douglas Flint stressing our concerns with the Digitisation Taskforce Interim Report and requested to meet. Representatives from UKSA and ShareSoc met Sir Douglas on 11 December. Most attendees thought it was useful and Charles Henderson has written to Sir Douglas to confirm the key points of the meeting: Dear Sir Douglas Digitisation Taskforce Interim Report follow up Thank you for your recent meeting that enabled us (UKSA and ...

SIGnet Investors Network Launches New Group in Reading 

  SIGnet is excited to announce the launch of a new in-person Investors group based in Reading. All levels of investing experience are welcome to join. The convener of the new Reading group will be Jez Dyer. Jez has been an active investor for 20 years, and a member of the SIGnet Henley Group for the past 10 years. Jez also runs a project management consultancy. You are invited to the initial online launch meeting to hear more about the group, meet other investors, ...