Almost double the increase in value of the FTSE 100
A year ago Legal Cheek purchased £600 worth of shares in six UK law firms listed on the stock market.
Twelve months on and the value of that investment has risen to £756.83, a 26% increase. This is almost double the increase in value of the FTSE 100 in the same period.
Here is what we bought in early January 2020:
DWF Group PLC: £91.02 fund value (83.50p per share)
Knights Group Holdings PLC: £84.64 fund value (368p per share)
The Ince Group: £88.05 fund value (46p per share)
Keystone Law Group PLC: £86.70 fund value (510p per share)
Gateley Holdings PLC: £90.72 fund value (144p per share)
Rosenblatt Group Holdings PLC: £91.77 fund value (57.00p per share)
Total fund value: £532.90 (£67.40 was spent in commission purchasing the shares)
And here is what those shares are worth today:
DWF Group: £124.26 fund value (114p per share)
Knights Group Holdings: £94.30 fund value (410p per share)
The Ince Group: £63 fund value (33p per share)
Keystone Law Group: £142.80 (840p per share)
Gateley Holdings: £144.90 (230p per share)
Rosenblatt Group Holdings: £187.57 (116.50p per share)
Total fund value: £756.83
The best performer has been Rosenblatt, chalking up a whopping 104% rise, followed by Keystone (up 65%) and Gateley (up 60%). The worst was Ince, which fell by 28%.
Law firms are allowed to list on the stock market as a result of the Legal Services Act 2007, which removed the rule preventing non-lawyers from owning law firms. Since the Act was implemented in 2010 a host of firms have gone public, the first being Gateley in 2015.
There continues to be considerable momentum in this area, with Irwin Mitchell and Mishcon de Reya both reported to be exploring potential initial public offerings (IPOs) that could take place this year.
Lawyers from Gateley spoke at last month’s Legal Cheek Winter Virtual Vacation Scheme about what it was like to work for a listed law firm.