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Time to Consider your Cash Holdings?

It was obvious from a recent FCA review of “platforms” (i.e. stockbrokers), that many retail investors held large amounts of cash in their portfolios. When folks are feeling the stock market has had a rather long bull run, perhaps they feel it is wise to keep a high level of cash. Or perhaps it’s because they simply can’t be bothered to move it when their high-street bank is offering such trivial rates as 0.2% per annum on deposit accounts. Needless to ...

The Impact on Investors of Labour’s Plans

I commented briefly yesterday on the plans by John McDonnell of the Labour Party to give employees shares and possible future nationalisations – see: https://roliscon.blog/2018/09/24/labours-plans-for-confiscation-of-shares-and-rail-system-renationalisation/ More information is now available on the share scheme and the more one studies it the more one realises that whoever devised it does not understand much about business and the stock market. In other words they were typical politicians with no experience of the real world I would guess. The scheme would apparently operate by companies with ...

Time to open an account with AJ Bell?

Please note that ShareSoc does not recommend particular platforms, but aims to keep members aware of their relative merits. The Daily Mail reports  today https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/comment/article-6196807/JEFF-PRESTRIDGE-Investing-platform-sends-message-clear-Bell.html the good news that: "AJ Bell has decided that its customers should not be left out of the impending stock market party. Anyone who has an account with the platform when October 15 comes around will be eligible to apply for shares(minimum of £1,000). While AJ Bell is dwarfed by Hargreaves Lansdown – and probably always will be – the ...

Abcam, Pay and Voting

As a long-standing shareholder in Abcam (ABC), I have just received the Annual Report and I am not happy. Abcam rather surprised the market when they issued their preliminary results which showed a massive investment in a new Oracle IT system was in difficulties. Clearly the project is over-budget and over-schedule. Costs are ramping up in other areas also and the result was a lowered broker forecast and an instant collapse in the share price – down over 30% at one point ...

Worldwide Healthcare Trust AGM – But No Proxy Voting Form

Today I attended the Annual General Meeting of Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) in London. This is an investment trust focused on a portfolio of worldwide pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It has a very good long-term track record, consistently beating its benchmark and is the top performer of all UK investment trusts measured since formation. The fund manager is OrbiMed where Sam Isalay was the managing partner until recently when he departed under a cloud of sexual harassment claims. He also resigned from ...