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Guitar solo. - "more reliable/ profitable CSM"? We as investors cannot know. The actuaries and accountants working within / for the insurers are making their estimates of the potential future profits from contracts. The actual will depend on the outcome of the contracts which is subject to all sorts of risks. Acts of God and Political agenda risks being the most important IMO and the most difficult to assess. It is clear (to me at least) that the apparent undervaluation of UK insurers in general tells us that the market does not have a clue how accurately these complicated rules will have been applied and therefore are steering clear until time and experience can guide us. If. like me you believe that insurers are by their nature very conservative in applying these new rules, then the obvious strategy is to fill your boots and hope for the best. In the meantime most insurers offer higher than inflation dividends and the potential for growth, alongside excellent cash reserves. That's good enough for me.

Maybe the(distorted ) low PE will benefit those of us who've understood the effect of the new standards. As many have said before - DYOR! Those of us who've done this are seeking an advantage in the zero sum game of stock market investing.

Look at BDEV for an example of buybacks. Compare their price to competition - esp prior to their bid for a rival.

I am back in. Wish me luck!

I would tend to agree about ms Blanc. AV. has under-performed its main rival LGen for some time. This happened when Nigel Wilson, the LGen CEO, is in his retirement year! Perhaps Amanda has her eyes on a different prize?

Just what we needed. Progress across most fronts. No surprise downside news. Modest tick up in dividend. Positive statements about mid term opportunities. Overall, a bit boring, but just what we should expect from an insurer.

IMO the real risk here is the political value of pension funds. Whilst lgen has recently and well demonstrated that they understand the current risks associated with the market (see Liz Truss fallout), it isn't possible to predict which political agenda will next affect pensions. E.g. will a future government mandate that insurers compensate pensioners for their inability to plan for their own futures by saving enough into their pension? It's a similar idea to PPP mis-selling compensation; where it's now possible to blame ones own lack of judgement on someone else.

Now I know that this falls into the realms of the "unknown unknowns" but the scale of the political opportunity it represents to politicians on the left might attract some to call for some type of redistribution. Alternatively, those on the right might call for more pension flexibility, leading to an unexpected drain on lgen funds managed.

Lgen is a big player in the pensions management market. We are living in times of rapid political change, where there is increasing antipathy towards wealth generation and more talk of wealth redistribution. IMO there will be political eyes on the easy sitting target of managed pension funds, otherwise, I would be going all in on lgen, because, like the rest of you on this board I believe it is one of the best opportunities in the FTSE at the moment.

I am confused.
The message about the ImpactA investment contains the following: "ImpactA Global Co-Chief Executive officer Isabella da Costa Mendes said: "There is an urgent and pressing need to address the critical social and environmental challenges that the world is facing, in particular in emerging markets. We believe in the potential of impact investing to unlock the capital to meet these challenges""
Does this result in sub-optimal returns? Or am I reading too much into the ESG agenda at L&G?

Two questions for the board. One serious the other slightly cynical? - you decide.
1. Do any of you have access to information about what costs will accrue to BDEV as a result of the "Michael Gove Fire Safety Costs Deal" AKA Cladding agreement.
2. Is there a sweepstake yet available on how many of MG's mates have their snouts in his 10 year trough?
BSABANTAM

@strictlybricks and @eccles04. Thank you for the replies. I can see how these transactions could be good or not so good. As usual it appears to be about the details. I bought BDEV before Christmas alongside Persimmon and HSBC. All well up at the moment, but I now wish I had weighted more to BDEV. Fingers crossed for the housing market in 2023.....

I have been following this board for some months having bought a few shares in late summer 2022, on the basis of the cash position of BDev and the clear need for housing additions in the UK. (i.e. It was just a matter of time before house sales would restart and the company could ride out any downturn IMO)
Then I noticed the share buybacks. The latest round finished in December. BDev bought back 12.7 m shares for a consideration of £49.2m. Average price was £3.87 per share. Today's price is £4.62. So that's a profit of 19.5%. This seems like a good thing but I don't understand how BDev accounts for this in their results?

Lejjb. I can see very little debt in the BDEV accounts for last year. Did they increase their loans since then? Am I missing something?

So, the underlying story here is that BDev appears to be taking a cautious approach to the market for the next few years. Also reducing costs, focusing on cash flow and buying back shares at bargain prices. For long investors this all looks like good news.

@Scad,
"Barratt still is moving forward with buybacks, which is not a bad way of utilising some of their cash reserves when the SP is so low."
Surely its better than you think. Every share purchased at these prices equals a share that does not need a dividend payment. In effect a 10 % discount on top of a low share price.
I have a feeling that Mr Thomas knows what he is doing.

Good to see Capital recommended as a buy in this Sunday's FT Money Investors' Chronicle section. It will be interesting to see if this has any influence on the price this week.

@rivaldo Thank you for the link.

Tucked away at the end of the CAPD annual report is a table summarising their ongoing negotiations with various African tax authorities. Does anyone have any experience or information on the risk associated with this sort of negotiation?

Brewing....steady amounts of shares being sold but share price still easing up. Is someone else building a stake? Great news for us PIs if so.

...if cash flow is significantly improved, and profits have returned, could they also start paying dividends again? That would be icing on this cake!

The Board already hinted that the second half will be better than the first. They also issued a separate statement about significantly improved cash flow, which was more or less promised at the last AGM when the new FD introduced himself and explained his targets for the year ahead. What we are now waiting for is the confirmation of the FY profit, EPS and prospects for future contracts. Remember that this is a business with long term customers who have potentially large barriers to exit as financial costs and migration risk to their networking should they decide to go elsewhere.Provided RCN can deliver efficiently they are IMO in an excellent position for long term growth.