SIGnet Join Donate Contact Login
ShareSoc — UK Individual Shareholders Society
Popular AGM voting guidance Investor Academy Company research Woodford campaign SIGnet groups
SIGnetJoinDonateContactLogin

ShareSoc News

Laggard TwentyFour Income Fund – A Question of Transparency

Post Date: September 3, 2025
ShareSoc Writes to TwentyFour Asset Management Expressing Concerns  A member of ShareSoc/SIGnet has raised concerns regarding the transparency of the TwentyFour Income Fund. In response, we have written an open letter to the fund’s manager, TwentyFour Asset Management, and await their response with interest.  As Buffett has emphasised, before making any investment, you should understand what you are investing in. Without adequate disclosure regarding the assets held in the fund, it is impossible to gain such an understanding.   
Read more

Woodford fines announced – but no further redress for WEIF investors.

Post Date: August 7, 2025
Six years after the suspension of the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF) trapped 300,000 investors, and following more than five years of investigation, on 5th August 2025 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) finally announced its decision to fine Neil Woodford and his firm, Woodford Investment Management (WIM).   The FCA has issued fines of £5.88 million to Neil Woodford and £40 million to WIM. Both have referred the decision to the Upper Tribunal, meaning the fines have no immediate effect and may not ...
Read more

New SIGnet Groups Support Beginner and Intermediate Investors

Post Date: July 29, 2025
SIGnet, a national network of individual investor groups, is excited to announce the launch of two new groups, designed specifically for those in the early stages of their investing journey. The Beginners’ Group is aimed at those who are new to investing and will cover topics such as Shares, Bonds, ISAs & SIPPs and Portfolio Diversification. No previous experience is required. The Intermediate Group is for those who are familiar with the basics, and will cover topics such as Ratios, Value & Dividend ...
Read more

Press Release: Digitisation Taskforce Report

Post Date: July 23, 2025
Final report is fatally flawed and could lead to shareholders losing their rights Digitisation Taskforce has failed to address its Terms of Reference City lobby’s influence outweighed shareholder interests Move to fully intermediated (nominee) shareholding system fails to protect key shareholder rights Proposed “Bill of Shareholder Rights” misses the mark Report is silent on key stewardship issues “Investor pays” access to rights will further diminish shareholder engagement Critical checks and balances are at risk   London – 22nd July 2025 ShareSoc, the UK's premier ...
Read more

The Digitisation Taskforce Final Report

Post Date: July 21, 2025
Taskforce proposals miss the mark. They put shareholder activism at risk and damage corporate governance.   The Digitisation Taskforce, comprising Sir Douglas Flint, Mark Austin and, latterly Chris Horton, has at long last released its long-awaited final report. The report recommends a staged plan to completely eliminate both paper share certificates and digitised share registers, forcing all UK investors into an intermediated (nominee) system where shares are held on their behalf by financial institutions: Step 1: Eliminate paper share certificates by 2027 (via a ...
Read more

SIGnet Launches New Group in Cambridge

Post Date: June 17, 2025
SIGnet, a national network of individual investor groups, is excited to announce the launch of a new in-person group based in Cambridge.  Investors of all levels of experience are welcome to join.   SIGnet groups meet on a regular basis, typically monthly, to give individual investors the opportunity to socialise, discuss, and learn from each other. The main goal is to improve members' knowledge and investment decision-making processes through free discussion and mutual education.  You are invited: to an initial online launch meeting to ...
Read more

SIGnet Launches New Group in Harpenden

Post Date: June 10, 2025
SIGnet, a national network of individual investor groups, is excited to announce the launch of a new in-person group based in Harpenden. Investors of all levels of experience are welcome to join.   SIGnet groups meet on a regular basis, typically monthly, to give individual investors the opportunity to socialise, discuss, and learn from each other. The main goal is to improve members' knowledge and investment decision-making processes through free discussion and mutual education.  You are invited: to an initial online launch meeting to ...
Read more

Attending AGMs Using AJ Bell’s Voting Service

Post Date: June 4, 2025
How their service works in practice Relatively recently, AJ Bell introduced an electronic voting service for clients, which can be accessed from the Account menu (Voting Instructions) when viewing your portfolio. The technology used for this (Broadridge) is the same as that which interactive investor (ii) use for their service. It also offers the option of requesting attendance at a general meeting, which can be found at the top of the form for completing voting instructions. When I use that option with ii, ...
Read more

FCA – meeting with Ashley Alder, FCA Chair

Post Date: May 30, 2025
From the ShareSoc Policy Committee As part of our mission to educate, inform and represent individual investors, we regularly meet regulatory, government and other key bodies. We engage actively with the Financial Conduct Authority. We respond to FCA consultations which impact on individuals’ savings and investments. We also meet with FCA executives, some regularly and some on an ad hoc basis. ShareSoc chair Heather Benjamin, director Mark Northway and Policy Committee member Cliff Weight met Ashley Alder, the chair of the FCA, on 23 ...
Read more

Press Release: ShareSoc Helps Clients of Hartley Pensions Regain Control of their SIPPs

Post Date: May 28, 2025
Hartley Pensions entered administration in July 2022. Since early 2023, ShareSoc has been providing support to Hartley Pensions Self Invested Pension Plan (SIPP) clients, helping them regain access to their pension assets. To date, only 2,000 SIPPs, out of a total of some 16,000, have been transferred to other providers. ShareSoc is in close communication with the FCA, who has now agreed to assist in cases where direct communication between affected clients and Hartley Pensions has not been satisfactory. We have already brought ...
Read more

LeaderPress Release – Baillie Gifford partners with ShareSoc to back individual investors

Post Date: May 16, 2025
Baillie Gifford is joining ShareSoc’s Corporate Supporter Scheme, underlining the importance it places on individual investors. Baillie Gifford is an independent global asset manager, headquartered in Edinburgh. With £197bn of assets under management, of which £22bn sits within its popular range of 12 investment trusts. These trusts attract a large individual investor base. ShareSoc is the leading not-for-profit organisation dedicated to representing and supporting UK individual investors. It is a fervent campaigner for fair treatment of individual investors with a heavy focus on ...
Read more

SIGnet Launches New Virtual Group

Post Date: May 8, 2025
SIGnet, a national network of individual investor groups, is excited to announce the launch of a new online group. The group will meet during the afternoon on a Tuesday and investors of all levels of experience are welcome to join.   SIGnet groups meet on a regular basis, typically monthly, to give individual investors the opportunity to socialise, discuss, and learn from each other. The main goal is to improve members' knowledge and investment decision-making processes through free discussion and mutual education.  You are ...
Read more

Become a free Associate ShareSoc member

Enter your email to sign up as a free Associate ShareSoc member and receive our emails. It takes a few seconds — and on the next page you'll have the option to customise your membership.