 Friends Provident Slaughter
When I took out an endowment with Friends Provident in 1990 to cover my mortgage, I was told, like everyone else that it was going to be a fantastic investment, leaving me quids in in 2010.
Of course we all know the truth now.
When FP demutualised, as "loyal" clients we were given a few shares with the opportunity to buy more at a reduced (not by much) rate.
Cut to the chase. I sat on the shares as they see-sawed, but never got back to float price Then in July, we were told of a "merger" with Resolution.
Great, I thought at last a chance to make a small (very) profit on my years of loyalty. At worst, I'll get my 5 grand back, as it's down to under 4 now.
Since then, however, FP shares have plummeted from 197 pence to 164.
Resolutions, on the other hand, have remained around £6.40p.
I have been told to expect a rights issue of 4 new shares for every 13 held. Bottom line: my shares will probably be worth less with the rights issue than they were a couple of months ago.
Moral of the story. Keep away from the Stock Market. | 
