It gets worse ...
I had always thought you could get to the directors through the Company Secretary who would be independent but this is from the Annual Report of AAVC
Operational arrangements
The Company has delegated the investment management of
the portfolio to Albion Capital Group LLP, which is authorised and
regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Albion Capital
Group LLP also provides company secretarial and other
accounting and administrative support to the Company
This is all very well and may be cosy and comfortable and perhaps reduce costs marginally, BUT it does not help shareholders one jot as they have to go through the manager to get to the board.
Maybe we have to lobby for a change in the rules on VCTs which are essentially 'consumer' products even though they are listed on the Premium Segment of the London Stock Exchange and are held in small quantities by small shareholders with no institutions to keep an eye on corporate governance. Perhaps some rule changes along these lines would help
1. There must be a Company Secretary who is clearly independent of the Manager and is the conduit between Shareholders and the Chairman/Board.
2. Either the PDA or the FCA or the London Stock Exchange (perhaps by making it the responsibility of the Sponsor) must take on some responsibility for the governance and ensure there is a proper balance between the Manager/Board view and that of shareholders.
3. The board and manager should be prohibited from using their access to shareholder details to lobby shareholders to accept their view of life other than via properly constructed RNS statements and expressly forbidden from using shareholder funds to employ"Proxy consultants".
4. Acknowledge that these companies are unlikely to reach the thresholds to, for example, call an EGM and make some changes to these thresholds for VCTs (could for example be a percentage of the votes cast at the last AGM)
5. Reach out to all shareholders not just those on the register
6. Clearly differentiate between Board messages and those of the management group in all correspondence and contact - including web-sites In particular the board must take total responsibility for its own web-site and not allow the manager any input whatsoever.
7. Publish the full management contract and give details of how they have reviewed this in the light of changing legislation and accounting practice.
Just some thoughts : suggestions as to how to get these changes and what more are required would be welcome - and it might be agood idea to open up a separate thread