ABSTRACT

The decline in demand for shipping brought with it a decline in demand for marine insurance. Investors who heeded signals, followed advice and trusted their own judgement found themselves assessing the relative quality of securities and mitigating investment risk by diversifying their holdings. Large numbers of investors built diverse portfolios of small holdings, often by applying for shares directly in response to the prospectuses which were frequently advertised in the daily newspapers or information sent to them directly by specialist houses. Although diversification of investments was one of the key attractions of investment trusts for the small investor, it is difficult to assess the range of distribution of trusts' assets as there was no requirement that they should publish details of their portfolios. The Economist also reported the results of a similar exercise in respect of ten concerns of moderate size in which the lowest average shareholdings were reported for Marconi Wireless Telegraphy and Rover Company.