Neil Woodford one year on: How the star stock picker fell from grace May 28, 2020 Former star stock picker Woodford suffered a very public fall from grace last year after his flagship Equity Income fund was suspended following a spike in investor redemptions. One year on, we look at what caused Woodford’s demise, where he is now and what it means for the investment industry going forward. Who is Neil [...]
Draper Esprit ‘well positioned’ to benefit from Covid-19 May 28, 2020 Venture capital firm Draper Esprit has said a substantial majority of its portfolio is “well positioned” to benefit from coronavirus, as the adoption of cloud and automation tech is accelerated. Companies in the secure cloud, automation and online financial services are trading well, said Draper Esprit, and evidence from public markets and funding rounds suggests [...]
AJ Bell’s revenue jumps 22 per cent as investors take advantage of market volatility May 21, 2020 AJ Bell has reported a 22 per cent increase in revenue after it saw record numbers of new customers flock to the investment platform amid the market volatility. The figures Revenue increased 22 per cent to £60.9m, with profit before tax up 28 per cent to £22.7m in the six months to 31 March. Total [...]
David Attenborough documentary spurred on appetite for ESG investment May 20, 2020 British investors have opted for ESG funds over the last three years more than any other category of investment fund, according to Calastone’s latest figures. The appetite for a more sustainable and ethical approach to investing came in the autumn of 2017, which coincided with the release of David Attenborough’s Blue Planet 2 documentary. Little [...]
£500m Future Fund launch mired by fears startups will miss out May 20, 2020 Future Fund, the government’s £500m answer to startups’ need for cash to survive coronavirus, is set to launch today – but risks freezing out a swathe of British firms, entrepreneurs and investors have warned. That many startups cannot yet demonstrate a turnover, and that they typically rely on equity investment for cash flow, excludes most [...]
Record dealing volumes fuel Hargreaves Lansdown’s revenues May 14, 2020 Hargreaves Lansdown enjoyed record dealing activity in March and April, as market volatility helped to push revenues up 13 per cent. The coronavirus-induced turbulence over the past two months saw Hargreaves Lansdown reach new daily records and monthly dealing levels more than double the highs experienced before in this period. The figures Revenue for the [...]
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 [...]