In a sector where the requirement for highly trained staff appears to be unlimited he says: It is a

In a sector where the requirement for highly trained staff appears to be unlimited, he says: “It is a well managed company that has produced results well ahead of expectations and should continue to do so for the foreseeable future. His reasoning at the time “was that either the management would do something or if not, then the value I placed on the goodwill was pounds 65m – much more than its then market capitalisation”.Then in 1992, a hostile bidder emerged, followed by two other rivals. Eventually, after an Office of Fair Trading inquiry, the company was bought by Lloyds Chemist for pounds 100m in a share swap.He sold his shares for the equivalent of 430p each. The company had excellent locations but the management was not so good.”He started buying shares in January 1991 when the share price was 136p each, valuing it at pounds 25m. I know what the goodwill value is in chemist shops (the law prohibits just anyone opening a pharmacy). “I was in the same business and saw that investment analysts couldn’t see its potential.

Don’t fall for it.i.berwick independent.co.uk. We all have favourite investments, but it is interesting to find out where the paid experts like to invest It might even teach us the secret of investment success. We spoke to four professionals in different areas of the finance world about their favourites – where they invest their own money. The fund manager
Jayesh Manek sprang to prominence when for two years running he won a Sunday newspaper’s fantasy share competition. As a result the Middlesex pharmacist was given several million pounds to invest on behalf of Sir John Templeton, a multi-millionaire and one of the pioneers of emerging markets investment.Early this year Mr Manek launched his own unit trust, the Manek Growth Fund, which attracted more than pounds 50m at launch.As a pharmacist he was attracted to shares in Macarthy, a Hull company with a wholesale operation and a chain of 160 pharmacies trading under the name of Savory & Moore “I could see it was an undervalued stock,” says Mr Manek.

Which means sales people have to work that much harder to flog their wares to the financially ignorant. But the figures still aren’t good enough: three out of 10 personal pensions sold by IFAs have lapsed within four years.There is still a long way to go before we can be sure we are being sold the right sort of products, for the right reasons. Strict regulation means these life companies operate within the rules, but that is no help for customers who don’t understand what they are buying and the extent of the commitment.Savvy investors don’t buy old-fashioned, expensive life company contracts; there are much better deals elsewhere. Britannic Assurance, Reliance Mutual and Old Mutual have under half of their 1993 pension sales still active.Independent financial advisers fared better across the board, probably because many want to build a long-term relationship with customers. If investors buy policies on the basis of good advice, therefore, they would not normally be expected to cancel premiums to their policies unless forced to do so by unexpected changes in their personal circumstances.”So unless there have been unforeseen financial disasters in a suspiciously large number of households, these high drop-out levels suggest some hard selling by people who take commission and hit sales targets – consequences be damned.Barely half the pensions sold in 1993 are still in force at companies, including Abbey Life, Albany Life, Barclays Life, Black Horse Life (Lloyds), Legal & General, Lincoln, Royal & SunAlliance and TSB Life and Pensions. And the actuaries conclude: “The overall level of persistency remains disturbingly low, particularly for pensions business and in the company representative sector.” Company representatives is the fancy name for sales people who work for one firm.
The PIA found that three out of every 10 regular premium policies lapse within four years.