re: Ann: Half Year Accounts - Presentation Br... Thanks for that...

re: Ann: Half Year Accounts - Presentation Br... Thanks for that Froddy. You’ve hit the nail on the head there.

The two recent announcements on ceasing to be a substantial shareholder were from:

1. Legg Mason Global Asset Management
2. AXA SA, Alliance Bernstein Australia Limited and others

From their web site, Legg Mason Global Asset Management has evolved into one of the largest asset management firms in the world, serving institutional and individual investors on six continents.

According to Wiki, AllianceBernstein is a U.S.-based investment management firm majority-owned by France's AXA. It has approximately US$444 billion in assets under management as of Jul 31, 2013.

No Google search on either Legg Mason and PBG or AllianceBernstein and PBG came up with any results. In the absence of any other information I can’t help thinking that it is not only these two (and possibly shorters) dumping PBG, but also copycat investors, scared that if two large investment institutions are dumping PBG, maybe their future looks a bit dull.

I am continuing to hold. They’ve gone ex div, but if they repeat the same for the full year the yield is pretty good. I don’t think shops are going away, any more than cinemas went away when everyone bought a DVD player. People like driving to the shops for an outing, and they always will. So I’m going to ignore the big boys and hang in there.