The Arsenal Supporters' Trust - Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a Supporters' Trust?
2. How will the Arsenal Trust work?
3. Can I invest more than the basic subscription?
4. How will the 'unit' system work?
5. How will joining the AST affect my Arsenal shareholding?
6. What benefits are there to AST membership?
7. Can companies and organisations join?
8. Who runs the Trust?
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1. WHAT IS A SUPPORTERS' TRUST?
Supporters' trusts have been established at most professional clubs in the UK. The aim is to give supporters an ownership stake in their club and a voice in its affairs, and indeed, some trusts now own and control their clubs. The co-ordinating body for supporters' trusts is Supporters Direct, an independent, democratic organisation, funded and supported by Government.
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2. HOW WILL THE ARSENAL TRUST WORK?
The AST is registered as a member-owned mutual limited company (called an Industrial and Provident Society, or IPS). Each member will have one vote irrespective of shareholding and will pay an annual subscription of £24 per year or £2 per month. Once the AST has enough members, after essential expenses, this money will be used to buy Arsenal shares which will be held by the AST in common for all members. AST already owns its first mutually held Arsenal share owned by the Trust.
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3. CAN I INVEST MORE THAN THE BASIC SUBSCRIPTION?
Soon. We're currently developing a system where each AST member can have his or her own account. Members will be able to invest one-off or regular payments to buy "units" in their own AST account. This money will be used to buy "units" of Arsenal shares equivalent to 100th of an Arsenal share.
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4. HOW WILL THE "UNIT" SYSTEM WORK?
By way of an example, let us say you decide to invest £25 a month by standing order in the Arsenal share units via the AST. An Arsenal share is, say, at "mid" price (half way between what you can get for it if you sell an Arsenal share on the OFEX market and what you would have to pay to buy one), £1,250. So the "offer" or buying price would be around £1,300. An Arsenal share "unit" will be worth one-hundredth of a share so a unit at the "buy" price will be £13.00. There are also the dealing costs and Stamp Duty to pay of 1.5% so your £25 would buy you:
£25.00 - 38p dealing costs/tax = £24.62
£24.62/£13.00 = 1.894 Arsenal share units.
Assuming the Arsenal share price stays the same a further 1.894 units would be added to your account the following month and so on.
Let us say you have been investing for five years and have built up over 100 Arsenal share "units" in your account. The Arsenal share price is at £1,800 mid-price. This means a "bid" or buy price of around £1,700. You decide to sell 25 units. The sums are as follows:
25 units X £18.00 = £450 less dealing costs of 1.5% or £6.75 = £443.25, a decent return on your investment.
Of course, if the Arsenal share price goes down you will get less back for your units than you paid for them. Share prices go up as well as down. Unlike other unit based investment systems which involve a "basket" of shares to spread the risk, the AST will ONLY invest in Arsenal shares. We would NOT recommend units in the AST if you are looking mainly for an investment return. However, we do believe that the AST can offer the best, most cost-effective and affordable way to invest in our great Club. All the research we have done shows that Arsenal supporters want to invest in Arsenal shares for reasons other than a financial return and the AST is the best way of doing this.
Further details on this scheme will be available during the 2003/4 season.
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5. HOW WILL JOINING THE AST AFFECT MY OWN ARSENAL SHAREHOLDING?
Not at all. All the shares you own will remain your property and your right to attend the Club AGM will be totally unaffected. If you elect to buy further Arsenal share units through the AST then you will be able to sell these back to the AST at any time at seven days notice.
There will be nothing to stop you buying further Arsenal shares through your own stockbroker as well if you want to. However, joining the AST will increase the say you have in the Club by linking those of us who already own Arsenal shares with those who would like to into one cohesive voice, thus facilitating dialogue with the Board.
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6. WHAT BENEFITS ARE THERE TO AST MEMBERSHIP?
As an AST member you have a full say in deciding AST policy. You also participate in the election of AST's directors, can stand for election yourself, and have a vote on all AST policies. You can attend and speak at the AST AGM as well as other members' events, many of which will be focused around Arsenal home games.
We will also be developing a website and already have an e-mail list which enables you (assuming access to e-mail) to communicate with fellow members on issues of common interest. As soon as resources allow we will also be developing a telephone based voting and message system.
We also publish a regular AST news magazine for all members. Initially this is biannual but we'll increase frequency as AST membership grows. We will also be developing a system to allow AST members who wish to dispose of personally owned Arsenal shares to sell them to the AST direct rather than via a broker. Such so-called "private treaty" sales will cut out the need to pay brokers' commissions and will give both the AST and the individual member a better price for the share.
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7. CAN COMPANIES AND ORGANISATIONS JOIN?
Yes. The AST welcomes companies and organisations such as Arsenal supporters' clubs and groups, the local borough council and other organisations such as tenants' and residents' groups into membership. We're developing a range of long-term partnerships with Arsenal-supporting businesses and other groups.
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8. WHO RUNS THE TRUST?
AST is run by you, the members. All members are eligible to stand for election and to vote for candidates for the AST board which is accountable to you and your fellow AST members. Independently audited annual accounts will be produced and submitted to you, the members, for approval annually.
The AST is also supervised by the Financial Service Authority (FSA). This is the supervisory body for all companies registered as an IPS. Its rules are much more comprehensive and the supervision more stringent that those of a limited company. The AST is run professionally as a business except profits are re-invested in the Trust and Arsenal shares rather than being paid as dividends to members.
You'll be able to examine all Trust financial records at any time. |
發表於 2007-10-31 01:58 PM
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