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Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 19th, 2019, 4:48 pm
by shootingstar
Interesting to read the latest ShareSoc comments.... including "Albion Venture Capital VCT Chair Richard Glover wrote to all 5,300 shareholders on 15 August".....I for one didn't receive any email!

I sent off my votes by post last week, pretty much voting against everything apart from standard items. However I still intend to attend the AGM

It has to be worth thinking about what are the right questions. Among questions I think are valid
1. issue of being locked in for 5 years and subject to performance fee arrangements I didn't sign up to when I invested in early 2019. No way for investors to easily exit or be compensated for the additional performance fee burden
2. treating customers fairly. response from company seems to suggest the VCT is not subject to FCA "treating customers fairly" rules but key people involved in managing the VCT are CF 30 - approved persons, so surely should be acting in the spirit of the rules

I for one would actually be happy if they didn't raise any more new money (they will struggle to anyhow with the new proposed fees) and simply wound down the existing mostly asset backed portfolio in a measured way

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 19th, 2019, 6:07 pm
by james188
I only bought into Albion (including AAVC) for the first time in the fundraising earlier this year - as diversification for other much larger positions in a number of other VCTs. I will attend the meetings this Wednesday and have already voted against the proposed management agreement revisions, which are just transferring value from shareholders to the manager. I really don't understand what the directors were thinking of, even recognising (and agreeing) that the manager needs to be appropriately incentivised. I bought into Albion as a hedge against more volatile VCTs which offer more unpredictable returns. Very sadly, I fear that the directors have lost the plot. I cannot see what they can say at the meeting to justify the revisions to the management agreement that they have recommended. Finally, I have not heard from the company direct recently, in common with other holders - and I hold my shares direct, rather than in nominee accounts.

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 19th, 2019, 6:39 pm
by Gostevie
shootingstar wrote:Interesting to read the latest ShareSoc comments.... including "Albion Venture Capital VCT Chair Richard Glover wrote to all 5,300 shareholders on 15 August".....I for one didn't receive any email!


Me neither, and I would be astonished if such a communication was ever sent when the rationale had already been communicated in a 16-page shareholder circular, especially as the vast majority of the 5,300 shareholders wouldn't be in slightest bit aware of any rebellion. Why stir the hornet's nest?

For what it's worth, and at the risk of alienating myself from ShareSoc and several friends, I am reasonably content with the proposed scheme.

Gostevie

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 19th, 2019, 8:20 pm
by timbo003
I would be astonished if such a communication was ever sent when the rationale had already been communicated in a 16-page shareholder circular


I was sent one and so was Lorraine, which was a total waste of a couple of stamps (paid for by shareholders)

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 19th, 2019, 8:28 pm
by barchid
I didn't receive one either.
Whichever way one looks at these proposals it seems fairly evident to me that the person/people who proposed them failed to think them through properly.
As this AGM is being held in a venue I suspect few of us have been to before, as opposed to the City Club, is there any way we can identify fellow LF's ?
On an occasion such as this it might be a good idea ??

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 19th, 2019, 9:20 pm
by Gostevie
timbo003 wrote:
I would be astonished if such a communication was ever sent when the rationale had already been communicated in a 16-page shareholder circular


I was sent one and so was Lorraine, which was a total waste of a couple of stamps (paid for by shareholders)


Hi Tim,

So it would seem from the various recent posts to this thread that like the ShareSoc mailing it was sent to a selective group of larger shareholders rather than all 5,300, which sounds completely reasonable.

Anyway, let's not have any falling-outs over this. No big issue agreeing to disagree on occasions. Look forward to catching up with you on Wednesday. I'll be in the Sir John Oldcastle from about 10am if anyone wants to "senda da boys round" to make me an offer I can't refuse re the voting. :lol:

Very best wishes to all AAVC holders,

Gostevie

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 19th, 2019, 9:24 pm
by BusyBumbleBee
I got the letter - surprise!

Sadly I cannot now go to the AGM - afraid that grandchildren take precedence.

The reason that their incentive plan is underwater is quite simply because in 2008/9 something went wrong and the share price slumped from over 117 pence per share to 66 pence per share because of a huge drop in NAV. For many years they had traded at a premium to NAV and paid a dividend of 10 pence per share. Sad to say I have forgotten the mistake they made.

However, the only real solution here is to leave the existing agreement in place for the shares already issued and for any new shares to be issued from here on as a separate class - "C" shares - they can set any incentive they like for these and see if the market likes it. Gradually they will get what they say they need and it only fair to existing shareholders to respect the fact that it was the manager that lost the money in 2008/9.

Here is an extract from their annual report of 25/06/2009
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 31 March | 31 March |
| | 2009 | 2008 |
|---------------------------------------------+----------+----------|
| | (pence | (pence |
| | per | per |
| | share) | share) |
|---------------------------------------------+----------+----------|
| Dividends paid per Ordinary | | |
| share | 10.00 | 10.00 |
|---------------------------------------------+----------+----------|
| Revenue return per Ordinary share | 3.30 | 4.20 |
|---------------------------------------------+----------+----------|
| Capital loss per Ordinary share | (18.30) | (4.50) |
|---------------------------------------------+----------+----------|
| Net asset value per Ordinary share | 85.30 | 109.90 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 19th, 2019, 9:33 pm
by BusyBumbleBee
Gostevie wrote:For what it's worth, and at the risk of alienating myself from ShareSoc and several friends, I am reasonably content with the proposed scheme -- Gostevie

Come, come Steve - your friends respect you and your views :)

To be fair: initially I was happy with the proposals as well - it was the fact that the manager was bypassing the directors and that the directors were doing f-all that got right up my nose and made me vote against the resolutions. I don't blame the manager for trying to get more money - that's why it is in business BUT I do really resent directors who do not put shareholders' interests first.

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 20th, 2019, 1:44 am
by UncleEbenezer
Gostevie wrote:
shootingstar wrote:Interesting to read the latest ShareSoc comments.... including "Albion Venture Capital VCT Chair Richard Glover wrote to all 5,300 shareholders on 15 August".....I for one didn't receive any email!


Me neither, and I would be astonished if such a communication was ever sent when the rationale had already been communicated in a 16-page shareholder circular, especially as the vast majority of the 5,300 shareholders wouldn't be in slightest bit aware of any rebellion. Why stir the hornet's nest?

I was half-wondering if the circular was what sharesoc referred to in saying they'd written to all shareholders. Evidently from this thread, some shareholders got another letter.

My Albion shares have been in a nominee account for a couple of months, and unsurprisingly I received no notices. More surprisingly I did recently get sent a statement of all my holdings from the Albion stables, and dividends from the past year. That made no distinction between July's AAVC dividend (paid into the nominee account) and the earlier ones (paid into my current account), so evidently someone sees continuity!

For what it's worth, and at the risk of alienating myself from ShareSoc and several friends, I am reasonably content with the proposed scheme.

Gostevie

Erm ... boo, hiss?

What bugs me most about it is that they're doing it all by stealth: a 'meeting' that looks like the AGM but is conveniently missing from the AGM's agenda and resolutions. That tells me they *know* they're up to no good!

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 20th, 2019, 11:20 pm
by CliffW8
Hi all, I look forward to seeing some of you at the AGM tomorrow. Your comments above are most interesting.

I did, finally, receive an email from Richard Glover, the Chairman at 9pm this evening, and Mr Kerr has linked in with me. It has taken quite some time to establish contact.
Cliff

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 20th, 2019, 11:43 pm
by timbo003
I'll be in the Sir John Oldcastle from about 10am


>>>Steve (and any other prospective AGM attendees), 10:00 is a bit early for me, but I will aim to get there by 11:00 which should give me plenty of time to help you complete your Damascene conversion before the AGM.

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 21st, 2019, 2:06 pm
by shootingstar
Attended the AGM and the resolution for the new performance fees was approved by about 70% of holders.

A deeply disappointing outcome for those aggrieved by the proposals like me.

Not sure if there are sensible ways for disgruntled shareholders to take things forward from here. I guess formal complaints to Albion's compliance officer and the FCA are options.

I certainly won't be buying any more shares and will consider to sell my existing ones even losing the tax break (which I haven't yet claimed)

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 21st, 2019, 2:48 pm
by BusyBumbleBee
shootingstar wrote:I certainly won't be buying any more shares and will consider selling my existing ones even losing the tax break (which I haven't yet claimed)

Thanks for the 'breaking news" story, ShootingStar. Suggest you don't shoot yourself in the foot out of sheer anger - they won't even notice; but if they did, they would just be pleased to have got rid of a troublesome shareholder. Use your energies to work for getting rid of the board next year. 30% against a resolution is significant and can be built on.

with kind regards - BBB

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 21st, 2019, 3:52 pm
by barchid
Yes, this board needs replacing, the whole meeting was a stitch up from what I could see.
One partner waffling for 8 minutes (I timed him) on the architecture of the room we were in and how the fireplace "blew his socks off" & Fraser Allen spinning out the time with telling us what we already knew & was the reason we were invested in AAVC, the asset backed income payers, renewables, care homes & schools, then spent a lot of time on the 3% of the fund which is currently in "growth" areas, rivetting stuff, not.
Then he passes on to the Chairman and announces that it is only 1 question at a time per person as time is short.
When the Chairman was starting to squirm, and his greasy hair looked like it might be brylcreem and reminding us of the spiv in Dads Army, the boards plant in the audience (ex director of Close Bros a quarter of a century ago), leapt to his feet from his front row seat in assistance & regaled the audience on how crucial it was to rebase the incentive scheme (aka handsomely rewarding underperformance) & how he had personally hired the partners, what top chaps & chapettes they were & oddly he was not cut short like every other (hostile) questioner was, but F-A (perfect initials ) let him go on running the clock down and only by the skin of his teeth was Cliff Weight allowed a question, but only one !
I suspect that Albion are possibly plumping up their bottom line with a view to a sale, why else would a fund manager with such a good reputation with its VCT holders trash it so swiftly in such a crass fashion ?
Like SS I doubt I will ever again put fresh money into Albion, which is a real pity but in the immortal words of Robert Zimmerman, "the times they are a'changing" !
I left straight after the voting and before one of the new "3%" was about to give a dissertation on AI, honestly could not bring myself to have lunch with that crew.
Oddly enough most of the "antis" were on the left of the room whilst a little knot of people clapping the board were on the right.
Honestly never been to an AGM like it before, I hope not too in the future.
BBB you missed some true theatre today, bur I understand, family always comes first.

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 21st, 2019, 4:57 pm
by james188
I also attended the meeting, but was one of those on the right hand side of the room that voted against the scheme (Timbo was another). I did not have an issue with the manager presentations or the time that they took, but really long winded statements (rather than questions) from ex Close Bros people and the like connected parties really stuck in the craw (completely nauseating, in my view) and have caused me to reconsider whether to increase my investment in the Albion VCTs when they next raise funds (likely to be this tax year, I understand), which I had previously regarded as a fairly safe bet. I also agree that the chairman made a significant blunder by trying to limit serious questions from concerned shareholders.What was he thinking of? Ditto announcing at the outset that 70% plus of the votes were in the bag already, which was pretty obviously an attempt to close down debate.

We have ended up with the bizarre situation where two of the Albion VCTs which have much less of an asset base than AAVC are entitled to lower performance fees. Logically, I suppose that the next step will be for the manager to seek to align those arrangements. Watch this space. I don't blame the manager for trying, but the board have rolled over. Personally, I would have accepted rebasing the start position so that the performance fee was realistic for ongoing superior performance, but not revisiting the other elements, which are simply one way traffic.

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 21st, 2019, 10:37 pm
by delburn
The AAVC AGM RNS says:

"Ordinary resolutions numbers 1 to 6 were passed. The following items of Special Business were passed of which resolution 7 was passed as an ordinary resolution and 8 and 9 were passed as special resolutions."

Is this Albion's way of saying resolution 7 did not meet the required 75% majority, so was not passed? Maybe I have misunderstood. Perhaps someone at the meeting could confirm?

It would be rather embarrassing for the directors if this year's fundraising was blocked.

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 21st, 2019, 10:54 pm
by delburn
Looks like I have misunderstood because the same wording was used last year.

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 22nd, 2019, 9:53 am
by BusyBumbleBee
delburn wrote:Looks like I have misunderstood because the same wording was used last year.

Welcome aboard, delburn. Hope many other shareholders join the lemon fool.

Sorry I could not have been there yesterday - but it sounds an horrendous meeting.

It is worth going back and reading the whole of this topic from the beginning - along with others such as Ventus

with kind regards - BBB

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 22nd, 2019, 11:26 am
by shootingstar
Thinking about it, the one positive from yesterday's meeting as I see it will be that they will likely struggle to raise as much money as they otherwise would have done going forwards. Investor money will flow to other VCTs

this should keep the asset based mix relatively high which is a good thing the way I see it (mix may shift down but likely to be driven more by potential sales of the "hard assets" rather than new money "dilution")

Re: Albion Venture (AAVC) 2018/19 results

Posted: August 22nd, 2019, 9:10 pm
by barchid
SS
You are theoretically quite correct in your assertion that this pantomine of an AGM should put off investors in future offers.
My fear though is that so many punters buy a vct on the suggestion of an IFA.
Given the sort of clout that, say, Wealth Club have it wouldn't be difficult to envisage Albion offering an IFA like that a special deal and it would be snapped up by people who had no idea at all about the background to this debacle.
BBB has said that having 30% of votes against was a v good achievement and a base to build on for next year. I think he's correct, but I suspect the IFA's will view it as a great opportunity to squeeze Albion and extract a seemingly generous deal from them for their next fundraise.