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Commercial Property and Brexit

Post Date: February 18, 2016

In a previous article I discussed what might be spooking the commercial property market. Share prices of companies such as British Land and Land Securities are down by as much as 25% since last November. Was this due to the threat of changes to the tax allowances for debt finance? I surmised not. But there is one very good reason that has become apparent - namely the alleged threat of Britain's exit from the EU (Brexit). Capital Economics LLP have published a ...

Garrett-Cox leaves Alliance Trust

Post Date: February 15, 2016

It was announced this morning that Katherine Garrett-Cox is to leave Alliance Trust. She had previously been demoted to be Chief Executive of its subsidiary, Alliance Trust Investments, but now she is departing altogether in one month’s time. Despite the eulogies in the announcement on her contribution to the Trust over the past nine years it seems unlikely that many shareholders will regret her departure. Those 9 years have not been great ones for the Trust in terms of investment performance, leading ...

What’s Spooking the Commercial Property Market?

Post Date: February 13, 2016

There was an interesting article in the Financial Times yesterday (12/2/2016) by Vanessa Houlder on the possibility that deduction of interest costs against profits will be disallowed by the Chancellor in his next budget. Is this is what has recently spooked the commercial property market? The British Land share price is down 25% since last November, Land Securities is down a similar percentage, and even well diversified property investment trusts such as TR Property are down 16%. Surely property companies should ...

Brexit and the Impact on Your Investments

Post Date: February 11, 2016

There has been a lot of public debate on the issue of whether Britain should remain in the EU, or depart. And whether David Cameron has negotiated a good enough deal to keep us in. I have written an editorial on this subject for the latest ShareSoc Newsletter. It's rather too long for this blog but if anyone would like a free copy of the newsletter (as a pdf document) please request it on our Contact page here: www.sharesoc.org/contact-us/ One of the ...

Words of Wisdom from Nick Train at the Finsbury Trust AGM

Post Date: February 5, 2016

Here's a very brief report on the AGM of Finsbury Growth and Income Trust (FGT) held yesterday (4/2/2016) - there is a much longer one here. This very successful, and hence popular, investment trust is managed by Nick Train and colleagues and has been for many years. I'll skip over the concerns about this trust such as the Chairman having too many jobs and there are way too many directors who have been on the board too long, and focus on Mr ...