WFH: Is it the death knell for offices? July 7, 2020 | City Talk Some real estate investors believe the successful working from home experiment during this crisis will lead to a long-term decline in demand for offices. We think this is premature. One of the more mundane aspects of the coronavirus has been the sudden evacuation of offices and mass adoption of home working. In the US it [...]
Egypt and Morocco capital markets attract growing international recognition July 7, 2020 | City Talk Heidi Raubenheimer, PhD, CFA, is head of Journal publications at CFA Institute. Experienced Board Member with a PhD focused in Business Management and Administration from University of Stellenbosch. CFA Institute has examined Africa’s 10 largest capital markets in a major report compiled by Heidi Raubenheimer, CFA, our senior director for journal publications. Here we highlight key [...]
AIM high: At 25, the junior index is coming of age July 7, 2020 In June, AIM turned 25 years old. The index has passed its somewhat risky youth and maturity is treating it well. With stripped-down regulatory and governance requirements, the junior exchange has, over the past 25 years, offered companies an easier platform to raise capital. As the London Stock Exchange puts it, “AIM helps founders and [...]
Equity fund outflows hit all-time high as investors cash in after market rally July 7, 2020 Outflows from UK equity funds hit an all-time high in June as investors cashed in on their profits following the stock market rally. Investors bought heavily into the markets in April and early May, as prices remained depressed, before banking on gains in June. Last month saw the highest outflows from UK equity funds, outstripping [...]
EU court rules against Blackrock in VAT exemption case July 2, 2020 Blackrock’s UK arm is not exempt from paying value added tax (VAT) on part of a service from an outside supplier to help manage its funds, an EU court ruled today. The world’s biggest asset manager had argued that between 2010 and 2013 it should not have to pay VAT on all the services given, [...]
Move over, US: time for a new stock market leader? July 1, 2020 | City Talk The US has dominated stock market returns globally ever since the Global Financial Crisis. But nothing lasts forever… Dominance in almost any walk of life goes in cycles. Just ask Manchester United fans or MySpace users… Well, the same can be said of markets. They also go through periods when certain regions (or companies) seem [...]
Schroders takes majority stake in Asian real estate firm July 1, 2020 Schroders has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Asian real estate investment firm Pamfleet, which currently has $1.1bn in assets under management. The asset manager said the deal strengthened its private assets and real estate capabilities. It comes after the recent acquisition of the German real estate specialist, Blue Asset Management, and [...]
Investment industry bodies urge Euronext to call time on long trading hours June 30, 2020 Two investment industry bodies have called on Euronext to trim its trading day by 90 minutes, as the exchange’s consultation on cutting trading hours draws to a close. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) and the Investment Association (IA) today called on the pan-European exchange to cut its trading day to seven hours, [...]
Standard Life Aberdeen boss Keith Skeoch to step down June 30, 2020 Standard Life Aberdeen today announced chief executive Keith Skeoch is stepping down after five years at the helm. The departure of Skeoch, who will be replaced by former Citigroup executive Stephen Bird, comes just months after chairman Martin Gilbert left the firm. Skeoch was one of the architects of the £11bn merger of Standard Life [...]
Confession of an ESG sceptic: How I learned to stop worrying and love ESG June 30, 2020 For a long time, it would be fair to say I have been brutally sceptical about Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) investment. However, the Covid-19 crisis has turned ESG from a trendy investment fashion to something that matters. My scepticism began with the fact that ESG was an unbalanced concept. Too many people focus only [...]