Here is this week's news from ShareSoc, followed by a curated selection from the rest of the financial media. 

You can comment on all these articles and share your insights with other members via our Weekly Newsletter Forum.

Since 2023, ShareSoc has supported Hartley Pensions SIPP clients in regaining access to their pension assets. We’re working closely with the FCA, which has now agreed to step in where direct communication with Hartley Pensions has failed. Several cases we’ve raised have already benefited from regulatory assistance, and we welcome the FCA’s efforts to accelerate progress.

Deciding where to allocate capital is one of the most important – and challenging – steps in the investment journey. With a wide range of options available, from low-cost index trackers to actively managed funds and individual stocks, the choice hinges on your risk tolerance, investment goals, and level of engagement. This overview outlines the main approaches, helping you understand the trade-offs and build a strategy that suits your financial objectives.

Written by ShareSoc Director Mark Bentley, this report provides a detailed account of the recent Judges Scientific AGM, covering the company’s background, shareholder engagement, key questions raised during the meeting, management responses, and reflections on the event’s conduct and future improvements.

Detailing the company’s operational performance, shareholder engagement, management responses to investor questions, and voting outcomes, with a particular focus on sustainability, project development, and corporate governance.

The post-Maxwell pensions reforms, introduced through the 2004 Pensions Act, have resulted in only a tiny portion of the UK’s £1.2 trillion pension funds being invested in the UK in an effort to make pensions safer. This has sparked debate over whether these funds should be redirected - and how - and whether doing so would reduce returns. The lower returns of UK markets are, of course, directly linked to reduced demand for UK equities by pension funds.

(Times Subscription Required)

The Saba saga is over, well at least for one of the 7 trusts that defeated the original activist attack. European Smaller Companies will shrink significantly after more than 42% of its shares were tendered, a move that will see activist Saba Capital exit the shareholder register, at a very healthy profit. Most of the remaining shareholders are staying put and backing this high performing trust having made considerable gains since Saba joined the share register.

Boaz Weinstein hails a ‘fifth successful outcome’ among his investment trust campaigns, though analysts warn CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income faces definite scale issues.

And if you thought Saba Capital had given up and gone home, you would be mistaken. Seems like Boaz Weinstein and his money will be actively pressurising UK investment trusts for a while to come. They have made money already and look like they will be making more yet, as they have investments in a large number of trusts. All trust boards had better be focused on closing NAV discounts if they want to have a good defence. Increasing their own stakes in the trusts they run would be a good start.

James Carhew of Quoted Data looks at potential takeovers in the investment trust space, where institutional investors are being tempted by the historically big discounts to NAV on offer. Takeover fever has yet to subside.

With more hedge funds and sovereign investors than has historically been the norm, gilts prices are prone to bigger swings. Especially as debt issuance is higher. With private investors increasingly active in gilts, it’s worth understanding the risks of volatility.

(Times Subscription Required)

For anyone investing in Biotech companies, this article from the managers of the International Biotech Trust is well worth a read. It lists "red flags" to watch out for in potential investments.

European markets have rallied in response to President Trump’s latest delay in imposing tariffs on the European Union, as fresh data showed the continued chaos was forcing most UK firms to amend their investment plans.

(Times Subscription Required)

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