Exiting lockdown: where’s ready, where’s not, and where risks a second wave? May 13, 2020 | City Talk In collaboration with Schroders’ Data Insights Unit, we’ve looked into the global state of lockdown and compared this with estimated reproduction numbers (R) to identify who is ready to exit lockdown, who is not and who is potentially exiting prematurely. Here’s what we found in summary: While China and Korea were the first to exit [...]
Brewin Dolphin’s profit dips despite increased demand for advice May 13, 2020 Wealth manager Brewin Dolphin’s profit took a hit in the first half of the year, despite an increase in demand for financial advice during the market turbulence. In a market update for the six months to March, Brewin Dolphin reported that statutory profit before tax had dropped 5.1 per cent to £28.2m, down from £29.7m [...]
Covid-19: why the tech giants have emerged as winners May 12, 2020 | City Talk While many businesses struggle to survive under the global lockdown, the largest technology companies remain afloat and in some cases are even thriving. Microsoft has reported a surge in usage of its cloud computing service Azure, as millions of people work from home. Amazon is hiring an additional 75,000 workers, on top of the 100,000 [...]
Are we heading back towards single-use plastic because of coronavirus? May 7, 2020 | City Talk The battle against plastic pollution has rapidly gained momentum in recent years. Our 2018 report – Plastics phase-out: exposure through the value chain – analysed the challenges across sectors beyond the use of carrier bags, microbeads and straws. We concluded that the issue was not just a point of public concern but either an opportunity for forward-thinking [...]
Goldman Sachs in talks to buy Invesco holdings May 6, 2020 Goldman Sachs is reportedly in talks to buy a large portfolio of company stakes being sold by Invesco. A unit of Goldman Sachs Asset Management is closing in on a deal to acquire the positions, according to Sky News reports, which could be closed within weeks. Invesco had applied a 60 per cent reduction to [...]
London Capital & Finance investors could start receiving compensation this month May 5, 2020 Investors in collapsed mini-bond firm London Capital & Finance (LCF) could start receiving compensation this month. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) said today it would start issuing decisions on LCF claims relating to misleading advice given to its customers before the end of May. It said it had already started reviewing individuals claims and [...]
How have sustainable companies performed during the Covid-19 crisis? May 5, 2020 | City Talk Rather than being a luxury or an optional extra, our analysis shows that a focus on sustainability would have helped relative performance during the recent market turbulence. Here at Schroders, our view of sustainable investing is that companies who treat their stakeholders fairly will see better share price performance than those who do not. There [...]
Private equity funds set to target Aim-listed firms May 4, 2020 Private equity funds are expected to target Aim-listed companies once lockdown has eased and dealmaking is resumed. The number of private equity-backed deals for Aim companies trebled in the past 12 months. PE funds bought and took 12 companies private in 2019/20, compared to just four deals in the previous year ended 31 March. Aim [...]
Investment firms deploying new tech are the most trusted among investors May 4, 2020 Investment firms that are deploying new technology are the most trusted by both institutional and retail investors, according to new research. Nearly two-thirds of institutional investors and nearly half of retail investors with an adviser trust their investment firm because of an increased use of technology. There is growing interest in the use of artificial [...]
Why does investing in UK SMEs matter? May 1, 2020 | City Talk The UK has seen an explosion of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over the past 10 years, bringing with it a love for supporting brave entrepreneurs, innovative start-ups and high street boutiques. The UK currently boasts more than six million SMEs – businesses with fewer than 250 employees – which employ close to 16 million [...]