Building Societies to Banks - any more windfalls likely?

MattyNeth

Now waiting for my Portman cheque - not too much longer to wait :-)

Just wondering if there any any B.S's likely to demutualise over the coming years. Who are your candidates, if any?

I am convinced that somewhere down the line Nationwide will convert - I'm thinking in the <10 year bracket.

I can also see a "merger of equals" between the Yorkshire BS and the Britannia - already have talked in the past I believe, and the Yorkshire also spoke to the Portman, so the Yorkshire do seem to have a board that will do business.

In terms of geographics I like the Principality (Wales) BS and also the Norwich & Peterborough. Newcastle BS would also interest me if Northern Rock goes under

baby_boomer

To clarify for other readers, Portman hasn't demutualised.

if Northern Rock goes under

:eek:
That'd be sure to reduce the value of any future demutualisation payouts.

Personally I can't see why Nationwide would ever want to demutualise. It would lose its top selling point. They would only want to if they were in deep trouble. I don't see that happening. Do you? If so, under what circumstances?

MattyNeth wrote: »

I can also see a "merger of equals" between the Yorkshire BS and the Britannia - already have talked in the past I believe, and the Yorkshire also spoke to the Portman, so the Yorkshire do seem to have a board that will do business

I doubt it. The current Yorkshire boss is Chairman of the Building Societies' Association and he is on record as saying that he doesn't expect a year of mergers.

Yes there will be a few building society mergers in the future, but the payouts will not be that great (£40 net? ) and no-one can predict them.

So is it worth it wasting interest with crappy building societies when you could be getting the top rates elsewhere.

A bird in the hand........

MattyNeth

Ok, well Portman hasn't demutualised, but it's been taken over and windfalls paid to eligible members.....

I think there is every chance with the way that Northern Rock raises it's money that it could go under with the credit crunch ongoing. If that happens, then the Newcastle BS could really take advantage and boost it's own balance sheet making itself look attractive.

Nationwide - just a hunch really. Wouldn't have thought the Halifax or the Abbey would have needed to convert to banks but they did

baby_boomer

But the one main mutual now standing has gained a huge business advantage without needing to do anything.

I'm sure this was taken into account when deciding the bonuses and pensions paid to the Nationwide board :rotfl: .

FelOn_2

So, how much is Portman paying out?

baby_boomer

£160 net to the average Jo.

£800 net maximum.

Don't expect anything like it for a while.

Old_Slaphead

baby_boomer wrote: »

£160 net to the average Jo.

£800 net maximum.

Don't expect anything like it for a while.

It's wise not to expect it but over the next few years consolidation is likely to take place.

When and who - who knows???? Most mergers have come as a bit of a surprise.

Some BSs are being run by expansionist boards and as regulations and competition squeeze margins they will be looking at ways of justifying their ever increasing salary expectations.

If societies offer decent paying £100 accounts then it's a no-brainer to have a few tucked under your belt.

steady__eddie

"In terms of geographics I like the Principality (Wales) BS and also the Norwich & Peterborough."

If you are thinking of becoming a member of N + P now, then you MAY be too late to benefit from any possible future windfall benefits as they operate an absolute signaway. The majority operate 5 year signaways and there are a few 7 years. I am aware that some societies may need the entire membership to vote in order to secure the necessary majority vote, so the signaway would have to be "relaxed".

Jake'sGran

I saw a brief mention of Kent Reliance (re demutualisation) on here not long ago so I invested two lots of £500 in their bonds but since then I realised their ISA rate was good so have transferred two of those. I dropped Portman about a year ago - more fool me!

steady__eddie

"more fool me!"

Language like that is not allowed on here, Forum etiquette - Pls be nice to all moneysavers. that includes yourself.:D
Golden rule, always keep hundred quid in an a/c. At times I thought long and hard about Portman though, 0.1 % and to make matters worse that was gross (in more ways than one).

baby_boomer

steady__eddie wrote: »

Portman though, 0.1 % and to make matters worse that was gross (in more ways than one).

:rotfl:
It was - especially since they had previously prided themselves on operating the best BS instant access account in the country for the small saver.

I suppose the decision to cut the rate to 0.1% may have been a factor in increasing the windfalls for the rest of us, as savers voted with their feet in advance of the merger with Nationwide.

Which I suppose sort of backs up s_e's point.

Except looking for the next society to go out of 59 [and losing interest while doing it] is like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack .

And the mortgage banks have taken a collossal battering in the market over the last month. This will also have reduced the potential value of building societies

Perhaps it's better to bank on [some great current] top interest rates rather than live in optimistic hope of whimsical windfalls?

A bird in the hand.......