RE: Article7 Oct 2019 22:31
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Many of Sirius’s retail shareholders have spoken of investing substantial parts of their life savings in the company.
Mr Fraser said he had “stopped reading [the websites] because they’re pretty depressing. You just feel so sorry for these people who’ve clearly not taken investment advice,” he said.
He urged retail shareholders to “go and speak to a professional, otherwise it is gambling”, adding that no licensed adviser would tell someone to “invest all of your money, all of your pension and everything you have in a stock like this.
“This is a high-risk but high-reward-potential venture,” he added.
Mr Fraser, who is carrying out a strategic review of alternative funding options, said that he was “getting inundated with emails with all sorts of crazy ideas about how to finance the project”, including proposals for a retail bond issue.
He dismissed the idea, saying that in previous fundraising rounds the amount that retail shareholders had subscribed for was “dramatically lower” than they had suggested. “We don’t think they have the capacity.”
Phil Thomas, director of London South East, said: “Bulletin boards definitely have a place as a research tool for today’s investors – to claim they should be shut down simply doesn’t make any sense.
“ They are a medium for investors to share ideas – and there are some highly skilled investors that will share their opinions and experience for free. Equally, we know that you shouldn’t believe everything you read online, and we strongly encourage our users not to make investments purely based on what they read on a forum.”
Clem Chambers, chief executive of ADVFN, said: “People who raise capital in public markets need to be prepared to be judged in the court of public opinion. How fragile is a company that feels threatened ‘by someone sitting in their basement in their sweatpants’?
“ Engaging with, rather than insulting, the private investor community would seem the more sensible way to proceed. The private investor is no longer cannon fodder for the City and the markets, and its brokers will continue to dwindle until they treat the private investor properly.”
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