W.h. Ireland Share Discussion Threads

[gargoyle2] 23/2/2016 08:52

Glad that's out of the way. Fine less than I had been expecting. Placing at 90p is a good result, imo. Coming only 6 days before the FY results announcement, I assume Oceanwood and Polygon received some sort of comfort about the numbers and the outlook. I'm not suggesting that any inside information was disclosed to them of course. That sort of thing doesn't happen any more.

[cabreado] 23/2/2016 07:52

Well deserved. Placing at 90 doubt it.

[darrener] 06/1/2016 08:21

Heard a rumour around Christmas - checked the FCA register to confirm

[gargoyle2] 05/1/2016 16:42

Where did you hear that news, Darrener? Doesn't surprise me. The compliance guy must either have been complicit in the wrongdoing or asleep at the wheel, imo. I would hope that his and Lowe's leaving will show the FCA that the company is serious about changing their practices. I assume they will be hiring an experienced head of compliance in due course.

[meijiman] 05/1/2016 14:32

Sounds Chinese -like Chairman Mao -haha.
Didn't know that. Must have strengthened Killingbecks' hand all round then.

[darrener] 05/1/2016 14:14

Is it coincidence he went the same day as Chairman Lowe?

[meijiman] 05/1/2016 09:48

No he got rid of the previous ceo for wrongdoing!

[gargoyle2] 05/1/2016 05:29

It sounds like he was pretty inactive back in 2013 as well!

No mention of a Head of Compliance amongst WHI's 'key people':

[darrener] 04/1/2016 17:06

It would appear the Compliance Director is "inactive" according to the FCA register and has been since the 2nd December.

[tanelorn] 04/1/2016 12:18

Gargoyle2> You are absolutely correct, the route cause was prior to his stewardship. My problem is with how the matter has been handled subsequently.

[gargoyle2] 03/1/2016 15:17

Bad press, but there's nothing new in the article. I'm not sure Killingbeck is the right person to blame here. As far as I know, the likely substantial fine from the FSA relates to practices during the first 6 months on 2013 -- he only became CEO on 1 January that year, and so it's likely in my view that he just didn't know what was going on. Lowe is probably at fault, having been chairman for a few years before that, and he's now gone (I assume that he was forced out once the extent of the bad practices, and the size of the likely fine, became known internally).

[tanelorn] 03/1/2016 11:54

More Bad press...( see lilac coloured box halfway down page ) ...

Richard Killingbeck, in my opinion, has placed WH Ireland in serious jeopardy. I doubt this 143 year old firm which has thriven through trials and tribulations can survive Killingbeck's hmmm ah, management skills. imo dyor etc.

[onjohn] 27/12/2015 09:34

1

Panmure Gordon fell 20% yesterday " after it warned of a decline in capital markets transactions" - according to a lead article on page 1 of today's FT.

At one point Panmure was 40% down yesterday.

The FT article continues " Aim- Panmure Gordon's focus- performed particularly poorly with a 47% drop in new equity issues".

Page 1 of today's FT refers.


Phillip Wale, chief executive, said they had had “two fairly substantial deals booked for December but the market is just not ready for them so we moved them in January. I don’t think anyone has had a great second half.

“It’s been one thing after another — a massive spike in volatility around August/September, concerns about China and a commodities sell-off.”

Panmure Gordon’s profit warning comes as the London Stock Exchange group cautioned last week that companies had shied away from issuing equity, and bond trading had slipped as rock-bottom interest rates suppress yields.

[tanelorn] 20/12/2015 15:00

Has anyone done a google search for 'WH Ireland' - I wouldn't like to work for their PR department.!!!

[gargoyle2] 18/12/2015 14:45

I wonder if the fact that the directors now realize that there will be a substantial FCA fine is the reason why Lowe resigned as chairman recently. It happened on his watch, so that has to be a possibility.

Other than the FCA fine, I thought the update wasn't too bad, given the market conditions. I did wonder though about the apparent adjustment, when comparing AUM against last year, for 'the announced office closures and business line exits'. I can understand the adjustment for business line exits, but should they really be adjusting for office closures? Surely when you close an office, the plan is to migrate that office's clients to another office, not just assume that those clients will disappear. Seems to me like they are massaging the numbers on that one.

I'd be disappointed not to see some more insider buying at this level. Either Killingbeck (who was buying in August at 122p) or Polygon/Oceanwood (both of which were buying in the autumn). My money is still on a takeover of the company within the next year or two.

[sportbilly1976] 18/12/2015 13:39

Having discretionary funds available from clients on an IPO you've underwritten I guess (if shown to be the case)....there was always going to be the temptation to support the Corp Finance desk.

conflict of interest surely hence the assumed FCA investigation

[a2584728] 18/12/2015 13:36

Investing people's monies their own IPOs I think and then losing vast sums of the investment.

[meijiman] 18/12/2015 12:43

what is this wrong doing that is referred to?

[a2584728] 18/12/2015 08:13

Worth 50p max IMHO.

[gargoyle2] 16/12/2015 14:26

Trading update here this week, I understand.

Will be interesting to hear if the Private Wealth Management division has suffered funds withdrawals after the negative publicity of a few months ago. Recent market volatility can't have been helpful either.

Pretty concerning that Rupert Lowe left so suddenly too. I did speak to the company about that and was told that they had nothing to add over and above what was stated in the RNS. There has to be the suspicion that he fell out with the CEO over something, but who knows.

[hydrus] 26/9/2015 16:18

New article today in telegraph, headline 'is this the UK's worst stockbroker?' Shocking stuff.

[tanelorn] 22/9/2015 23:53

Have they compensated the pensioner yet?,no? Better wait awhile for a share price rise!