All the union news that's fit to blog...
I’ve blogged a couple of times before about the political challenges facing investment in infrastructure. In the last couple of days there have been a couple more news stories that show how sharp these issues are getting.
First up, the FT ran a piece …Read more…
This tweet from Which? caught my eye the other day, and is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately:
The tweet (which is currently pinned!) referred to the cost of sticking with the same broadband providers, and it reminded me of a similar tw…Read more…
Again, huge caveat that the data in these charts is only 0.5%+ short positions, but some interesting stuff I think. At the end of play yesterday the FCA had disclosed 581 current short positions of 0.5% and above in UK shares. So I looked at which firm…Read more…
Neptune (looks like an old statement, but hey)
We will continue any dialogue with the company over an extended period where deemed necessary. Escalation of our engagement activities, including any engagement with other investors, will depend on the co…Read more…
Well, here’s something. In a previous blog I noted that Liontrust Asset Management is apparently both a Tier 1 and a Tier 2 signatory of the Stewardship Code (though the statement is the same in both links).
Well, I had a bit of a Google around and I …Read more…
I had some fun last year exposing the boilerplate blah that many hedge funds (and a few bigger firms) were using to “explain” their non-compliance with the Stewardship Code. Many thanks to Responsible Investor for recently giving this a plug.
Anyway, …Read more…
The Unseen Revolution by Peter Drucker is (like the Modern Corporation and Private Property) one of those books that has had a big influence on the world in which I inhabit, but also which is often misunderstood. Lots of people have probably heard the …Read more…
Via LinkedIn (sorry!) I came across this interesting paper from RD:IR on what’s going on with regards to stock-lending in the UK. Definitely worth a quick read for anyone with an interest in this area.
A couple of headline – the overall level of lendi…Read more…
Before xmas, Kier Group held a rights issue which was something of a flop, with only about a third of the shares being taken up. The left the underwriters and sub-underwriters on the hook, and there was a subsequent “rump placing” that saw them dump a …Read more…
Last year I blogged about the duplicate text that lots of hedge funds were using to “explain” their non-compliance with the Stewardship Code. It’s still out there, and on a recent trawl I managed to find more examples of funds using the same blurb. But…Read more…
So the takeover of Shire PLC by Takeda Pharma has been completed. I thought I’d have a quick look for merger arbitrage plays in the filings.
A few familiar names in the list below. Most of these investors are listed as having an interest (presumably s…Read more…
One of the books I’ve read over the holiday period is Gigged by Sarah Kessler. It’s a quick read, nicely written and manages to get across some important points.
First up, if you’re reading the book from labour-oriented perspective you may find the st…Read more…
A couple of stories caught my eye over the last few days, both relating to the ownership of infrastructure.
The first piece is from the FT and looks at the dividends paid to the owners of the UK’s airports. This contrasts the amounts paid to sharehol…Read more…
As most people will be aware, the revised UK Corporate Governance Code kicks in next year, and an important element of it relates to “employee voice”. At the risk of overstating things, the change in the Code is significant as, for the first time in it…Read more…
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Update on my update: I’m reliably informed that other data sources suggest the actual total short position in Kier Group is more than double that in the FCA list. Interserve 50% higher than the totals on the FCA list.
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Following on from Kier Group (and Carillion, of course) it looks like Interserve is facing some serious financial pressure. According to the FT there are “rescue” talks underway that involve a debt for equity swap that would largely wipe out existing s…Read more…
Just a “workers on boards” nugget, but Capita has announced it is seeking to recruit two employee directors. You can read the press blurb here or the story in the Times here.
When I dug around a bit I discovered that this had actually been announ…Read more…
Just a quickie, but I spotted last week that Baillie Gifford had voted against the re-election of both David Bonderman (chair) and Kyran McLaughlin (SID) at the Ryanair AGM in September.
Why does that matter? Because Baillie Gifford is a large (4%) a…Read more…