The Place to be Seen? Annual General Meetings in the UK 1890 to 1965

This paper explores the popularity of the annual general meeting, its evolution over time and the roles played by directors and shareholders in managing the proceedings. In particular, the role of the small investor and of shareholder associations is explored as well as variations in voting rights over time. The paper is based on reports of annual general meetings, widely reported in the press, on minutes of meetings and associated correspondence in corporate archives, contemporary literature, and on pamphlets published by shareholder associations.annual general meeting, history

Performativity and Financial Markets: Option Pricing in the Late 19th Century

The paper revisits the performativity thesis in economics stressing the plural character of knowledge, which includes not only scientific models but also every form of practical knowledge that systematizes the visible and the articulable experience of economic agents. To highlight the point, the paper examines the pricing of options in London in the late 19th century, long before the academic origin of modern option pricing models. The pamphlets of the time are valuable archives of existing option transactions performed on the basis of systematic practical techniques widely established among investors

The merchant banker, the broker and the Company chairman: a new issue case study

This paper explores the roles of a merchant banker, Everard Hambro, and the chairmen of two companies, Thames Iron and Trollope, Colls & Co., in the restructuring of their companies at the beginning of the twentieth century. Their correspondence provides evidence that the choice of corporate capital structure had little to do with company needs or risk characteristics. Instead, Hambro, in concert with stockbrokers, concentrated on legal issues and on ensuring that the securities issued conformed in amount, type and price to market norms, including the avoidance of stock watering. The company chairmen concentrated on ensuring that they retained control and that the new issues were deemed a success.Corporate finance, stock watering, underwriting, new issues

The Rise of the Small Investor in the US and the UK, 1895 to 1970

The role of the small shareholder has been largely ignored in the literature, which has tended to concentrate on controlling shareholders and family ownership. And yet, focus on the importance of small shareholders can capture significant aspects of financial development, since the more 'confident' the minority shareholders, the easier will capital flow to firms. Pre 1970, debates and policy conflicts linked to stock exchange development concentrated on shareholder democracy and diffusion as key indicators. The number of shareholders relative to the population was seen as a critical factor in explaining not only structures in corporate finance but also political and economic preferences, market developments and overall economic development. This paper explores the so-called democratisation of investment and the factors behind it through the lens of trends in estimates of the UK and US shareholding populations between 1895 and 1970. It covers three key periods: before World War I, before and after the stock market crash of 1929, and post-World War II. It identifies three periods in the US when shareholder numbers were paramount: in the boom years of the 1920s, as part of the inquest into the 1929 Crash, and post-World War II in an attempt to boost stock market activity. In the UK, although some concern was expressed during the 1920s and 1930s at the passive nature of small investors, who held diversified portfolios with small amounts in each holding, it was the fear of nationalisation after World War II which led to more in-depth shareholder estimates

Putting all their eggs in one basket? Portfolio diversification 1870 to 1902

There are a number of reasons why investor portfolio characteristics are of interest. First, there is limited evidence of what individual investors actually held in their portfolios in the past, including, for example, whether there were significant differences between male and female investors. Second, investors’ portfolio holdings are relevant to the debate on the ‘democratisation’ of investment and, third, the inform the debate on whether investors in the past made efforts to reduce portfolio risk through diversification, before the full ‘scientific’ approach of the early twentieth century and the Markowitz optimisation approach of the mid-twentieth century. This paper explores the portfolio choices made by a sample of 508 investors – 263 men and 245 women - between 1870 and 1902. There is evidence of diversification, with the average holding of the sample being 4.6 securities. There is also evidence of increasing levels of diversification over time, of international diversification, and greater diversification by wealthy men and women. Investors in the past clearly made efforts to reduce portfolio risk before Markowitz optimisation

What Victorian households can teach us about financial decision-making

They relied on local trust networks, instead of following the recommendation to diversify, write Janette Rutterford and Dimitris Sotiropoulo

Impacts of climate change on the body size of horse mackerel in the North Sea

Clear biogeographic trends persist in the body sizes of individuals in marine communities, with smaller species and individuals within species found in warmer waters. Based on this trend (Bergmann’s Rule), communities undergoing warming at a given location are likely to become more representative of body sizes seen in warmer waters. Using fisheries independent North Sea survey data with established catchability corrections, we investigated the effect of 30 years of warming on average size and species size distributions. We found, as an example, that horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) is consistent with Bergmann’s Rule, with larger average sizes seen at higher latitudes. Over 30 years a significant decline in average size has occurred at several latitudes. Using a Eulerian (grid based) approach and dividing the North Sea into 82 1° x 1° cells, 56% of cells displayed size distributions shifting towards populations with higher proportions of smaller individuals. Changing size distribution correlated significantly with warming over the study period. Horse mackerel’s northern range is in the northern North Sea, indicating populations at species range boundaries may be most affected by further warming. This finding warrants further work on a wider number of species. Changing body sizes and shifts in size distributions has implications for ecosystem functioning, trophic level dynamics and the value of fisheries

Financial diversification before modern portfolio theory: UK financial advice documents in the late nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century

The paper offers textual evidence from a series of financial advice documents in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century of how UK investors perceived of and managed risk. In the world’s largest financial centre of the time, UK investors were familiar with the concept of correlation and financial advisers’ suggestions were consistent with the recommendations of modern portfolio theory in relation to portfolio selection strategies. From the 1870s, there was an increased awareness of the benefits of financial diversification - primarily putting equal amounts into a number of different securities - with much of the emphasis being on geographical rather than sectoral diversification and some discussion of avoiding highly correlated investments. Investors in the past were not so naïve as mainstream financial discussions suggest today

Study Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of mentalization based therapy against specialist supportive clinical management in patients with both eating disorders and symptoms of borderline personality disorder

BackgroundThe NOURISHED study: Nice OUtcomes for Referrals with Impulsivity, Self Harm and Eating Disorders.Eating Disorders (ED) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are both difficult to treat and the combination presents particular challenges. Both are associated with vulnerability to loss of mentalization (awareness of one's own and others' emotional state) In BPD, Mentalization Based therapy (MBT) has been found effective in reducing symptoms. In this trial we investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MBT adapted for Eating disorders (Mentalization Based Therapy for Eating Disorders (MBT-ED))compared to a standard comparison treatment, Specialist Supportive Clinical Management SSCM-ED) in patients with a combination of an Eating Disorder and either a diagnosis of BPD or a history of self-harm and impulsivity in the previous 12 months.MethodsWe will complete a multi-site single-blind randomized controlled trial of MBT-ED vs SSCM-ED. Participants will be recruited from 3 Eating Disorder Services and 2 Borderline Personality Disorder Services in London. Participants allocated to MBT-ED will receive one year of weekly group and individual therapy and participants allocated to SSCM-ED will receive 20 sessions of individual therapy over 1 year. In addition, participants in both groups will have access to up to 5 hours of dietetic advice. The primary outcome measure is the global score on the Eating Disorders Examination. Secondary outcome measures include total score on the Zanarini BPD scale, the Object Relations Inventory, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Measures are taken at recruitment and at 6 month intervals up to 18 months.DiscussionThis is the first RCT of MBT-ED in patients with eating disorders and symptoms of BPD and will provide evidence to inform therapy decisions in this group of patients. During MBT-ED mentalization is encouraged, while in SSCM-ED it is not overtly addressed. Study of proposed moderating factors will help elucidate mechanisms of change in the two therapies and analysis of therapy and interview transcripts will provide qualitative information about the conduct of therapy and changes in mentalization and object relations

Study Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of mentalization based therapy against specialist supportive clinical management in patients with both eating disorders and symptoms of borderline personality disorder

The NOURISHED study: Nice OUtcomes for Referrals with Impulsivity, Self Harm and Eating Disorders.Eating Disorders (ED) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are both difficult to treat and the combination presents particular challenges. Both are associated with vulnerability to loss of mentalization (awareness of one's own and others' emotional state) In BPD, Mentalization Based therapy (MBT) has been found effective in reducing symptoms. In this trial we investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MBT adapted for Eating disorders (Mentalization Based Therapy for Eating Disorders (MBT-ED))compared to a standard comparison treatment, Specialist Supportive Clinical Management SSCM-ED) in patients with a combination of an Eating Disorder and either a diagnosis of BPD or a history of self-harm and impulsivity in the previous 12 months