Why are investors expected to run the companies they invest in? A new stewardship code for shareholders is being prepared by the people who already thrust a corporate governance code onto companies. Do we really need it?
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Arriva Plc (LON:ARI) is a bus company, so there is no problem in it being bought by the Germans.
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Top executives’ pay should be no more than 75-times the average wage of the company’s bottom 10 per cent of earners, according to a campaign by church investment managers. Such top-to-bottom ratios are gaining popularity but pay structures are simply not that simple.
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When is a dividend increase not an increased dividend? When the company denominates its dividends in dollars but pays them to UK investors.
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There has been a stream of stock markets for small companies over the past three decades, but with the latest, the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), in decline, is it time for another go at this problem?
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Tesco is the retailer that everyone loves to hate – but where everyone shops. One day it will become a mature business but for now it is teaching rival corporations that big companies can still be flexible.
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If you spend years feeding the bears you can’t complain when they bite you. Now that Aviva (LON:AV) has been the victim of short-selling the insurance giant is belatedly thinking it should not be lending them the stock to sell short.
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Ending the ban on short-selling financial stocks is not only good in principle, it is also encouraging for investors. When other arms of government are tightening controls, the Financial Services Authority has signalled that there is light at the end of the credit crunch tunnel.
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Stopping a clock does not stop time and suspending dealings in shares doesn’t stop their value falling. As directors of an investment house, New Star Asset Management’s board, of all people, should know that.
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