warren baffo
Forumer storico
"And, then there is UK financial Aviva making a complete *rs* of itself.
Why? Aviva has been a major story in sterling markets the past few weeks. Aviva decided to redeem its outstanding Preference Shares (a traditional form of non-voting debt-like equity) at par on the basis they will no longer count as capital from 2026. Problem was the Prefs were trading around 175! Meaning investors were going to be absolutely gutted – and Aviva justified it as good for shareholders!
There is nothing in the documentation to say such a redemption was ever envisaged or permitted – investors had no reason to expect the bonds would be redeemed at par against their interest. Yet, an obscure precedent involving Lloyds redeeming bonds early gave a fug of dubious legality to the process.
There was an immediate hue and cry. Fury from investors. (Disclosure: I decided not to say anything as I’ve got some in my own pension pot.) Then, after weeks of pressure, last night the CEO announced they were cancelling the buyback, and “preference shareholders can rest secure in their holdings”. Really? What ******* planet is he living on???
That does not help the thousands of retail holders who saw the value of their holdings plummet. One of my traders has been watching the price and the tick by tick action – as 25K, 50K and 100K tickets traded down as low 110%. Each of these tickets represented some panicked pensioner’s savings, their pension nest egg, being sold because of the fear the initial announcement engendered. This morning the Aviva’s are trading back up to 164%!
And, holders have been selling other names prefs, fearing other issuers would be equally dismissive of their pref investors.
Funnily enough… just over a week ago, Aviva CEO Mark Wilson accepted a non-exec position on the Blackrock board. Guess what? Blackrock has been one of the major firms campaigning against Aviva making the pref call!
Aviva may think they’ve done the right thing cancelling the redemption. The reality? Retail investors have been fleeced. I strongly suggest Parliament considers hauling Wilson in and suggesting he and his board personally recompense any and every investor that lost money for their stupidity and abuse of markets. I’ve been advised by one of lawyer chums there is a very strong case for investors to haul Aviva in front of the courts."
( trovato in un articolo su ZH che parlava d'altro (Blain: "Its’ What The Chinese Haven’t Done That’s Interesting"), non so se refuso o cosa.... )
Storia abbastanza incredibile. Qualcuno ha visto seguito la faccenda? avete visto comunicati ufficiali su possibilità prossime call? ora si compra intorno 150... oltre 10% meno di 2 settimane fa.
Why? Aviva has been a major story in sterling markets the past few weeks. Aviva decided to redeem its outstanding Preference Shares (a traditional form of non-voting debt-like equity) at par on the basis they will no longer count as capital from 2026. Problem was the Prefs were trading around 175! Meaning investors were going to be absolutely gutted – and Aviva justified it as good for shareholders!
There is nothing in the documentation to say such a redemption was ever envisaged or permitted – investors had no reason to expect the bonds would be redeemed at par against their interest. Yet, an obscure precedent involving Lloyds redeeming bonds early gave a fug of dubious legality to the process.
There was an immediate hue and cry. Fury from investors. (Disclosure: I decided not to say anything as I’ve got some in my own pension pot.) Then, after weeks of pressure, last night the CEO announced they were cancelling the buyback, and “preference shareholders can rest secure in their holdings”. Really? What ******* planet is he living on???
That does not help the thousands of retail holders who saw the value of their holdings plummet. One of my traders has been watching the price and the tick by tick action – as 25K, 50K and 100K tickets traded down as low 110%. Each of these tickets represented some panicked pensioner’s savings, their pension nest egg, being sold because of the fear the initial announcement engendered. This morning the Aviva’s are trading back up to 164%!
And, holders have been selling other names prefs, fearing other issuers would be equally dismissive of their pref investors.
Funnily enough… just over a week ago, Aviva CEO Mark Wilson accepted a non-exec position on the Blackrock board. Guess what? Blackrock has been one of the major firms campaigning against Aviva making the pref call!
Aviva may think they’ve done the right thing cancelling the redemption. The reality? Retail investors have been fleeced. I strongly suggest Parliament considers hauling Wilson in and suggesting he and his board personally recompense any and every investor that lost money for their stupidity and abuse of markets. I’ve been advised by one of lawyer chums there is a very strong case for investors to haul Aviva in front of the courts."
( trovato in un articolo su ZH che parlava d'altro (Blain: "Its’ What The Chinese Haven’t Done That’s Interesting"), non so se refuso o cosa.... )
Storia abbastanza incredibile. Qualcuno ha visto seguito la faccenda? avete visto comunicati ufficiali su possibilità prossime call? ora si compra intorno 150... oltre 10% meno di 2 settimane fa.
