This page is a collection of short notes. All but the latest may be viewed by choosing a heading below:
Recently (it is now April 2006) I had the duty of winding up the affairs of a dead friend.
One task was to liquidate his portfolio of shares, valued at £300,000. The portfolio had been managed by a well-known firm, Rensburg Sheppard, who had spread John's money across 40 stocks. The fee charged by Rensburg for selling the shares was £8,000.
Now, this sum is of course outrageous (my broker charges a flat £7 a deal) - but I do not complain about that: we are after all used to paying outrageous fees to estate agents, solicitors, anyone who handles our assets. But I did see it as my duty (as John's executor) to see that fees were being charged appropriately, with no errors.
Now, we live in enlightened, open, times, do we not? Where transactions are regulated and commission levels disclosed. So I wrote to Rensburg (here), asking them to nominate the independent body who ruled on the fees charged in their profession. My letter elicited a gruff reply, simply saying that the charges were appropriate. My second letter (here) repeated my request for the details of an independent body.
Rensburg's next reply suggested that APCIMS were the appropriate body. This seemed unlikely from the tone of their website; but, nonetheless, I wrote to them. Unsurprisingly, they replied (here) saying they could not possibly comment on a member's fees. APCIMS did suggest I contacted Rensburg's chief , and supplied his name and address. So, although I was no nearer to an independent body, I did write to the chief (here).
The chief's reply (here) still failed to nominate an independent body, but he did give the fees of two firms he described as Rensburg's 'competitors'. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, these are very similar to those charged by Rensburg.
The Ombudsman might be the next contact - though I have little faith in him, since he is funded by the very bodies he is to regulate. Before that, though, I'm writing today (29Apr06) to the Guardian 'Capital Letters' column to see if Mr Monbiot might be interested. It does seem odd that (a) there seems to be no regulatory body similar to the Law Society for solicitors; and (b) that it is common to charge the same (or higher) dealing fees for liquidation on death as for the skilful choice of investment while alive.
Here is an account of my attendance at the first day of Wimbledon 2005. It reads a bit like the Python "News For Parrots" ::: "No parrots were involved today in a seven car pile-up on the M1"...
