Incoming BoE head Andrew Bailey to be grilled by LCF mini-bond investigation January 23, 2020 Incoming Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey will be interviewed about his oversight of collapsed investment firm London Capital and Finance (LCF), an independent investigation said today. LCF collapsed in January 2019, leaving 11,600 investors who bought its mini-bonds facing collective losses of up to £237m. While LCF itself and its marketing material was regulated [...]
Watchdog tells financial firms to be ready in case of no-deal Brexit January 23, 2020 Financial firms in the UK should be ready in case Britain does not reach a trade deal with the European Union by December, according to a senior regulator. Britain leaves the EU next week, with “business as usual” transition period in place until December. Formal trade talks are set to begin in the coming weeks. [...]
Liquidity concerns mount as investors pull £1bn from Mark Barnett’s Invesco funds January 22, 2020 Investors pulled at least £1bn from Invesco funds managed by Mark Barnett in the final quarter of 2019 amid mounting concerns over liquidity following the collapse of Neil Woodford’s investment empire. Estimates from financial data provider Morningstar suggest the three funds managed by Barnett — Invesco Income, High Income, and UK Strategic Income — suffered [...]
London-based Blossom Capital launches $185m Europe-focused fund January 22, 2020 London-based venture capital firm Blossom has launched a second $185m (£142m) fund to invest in European tech startups, less than a year after its first raise. The new fund, which Blossom Capital said was “heavily oversubscribed”, will invest in European tech startups at an early stage, and takes the total raised by the company to [...]
Watchdog warns financial advisers on causing ‘significant harm’ to clients January 21, 2020 Financial advisers were ticked off by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today for causing harm to consumers. In a letter to chief executives, the FCA noted a growing number of cases where firms’ actions resulted in “significant harm to consumers’ financial well-being”. It picked out four ways in which clients could be harmed: receiving unsuitable [...]
What motivates women to invest? Our survey results are in January 21, 2020 | City Talk What motivates women to invest? This was the question at the heart of a survey of more than 200 women across 24 countries undertaken to explore what shapes women’s attitudes to personal investment. I have been researching women and finance for a decade, and set out to bust several myths: that women didn’t invest because [...]
Billionaire Icap founder Michael Spencer backs £100m fintech fund January 20, 2020 Michael Spencer, City grandee and founder of interdealer broker Icap, has become the cornerstone investor of a new UK fintech fund that is aiming to raise up to £100m. Spencer will contribute at least £25m to the new fund, Element Ventures, via his investment vehicle IPGL. The fintech fund will focus on emerging firms that [...]
AFH financial reports strong earnings growth January 20, 2020 AFH Financial has reported strong growth in revenue and funds under management (FUM) following after the financial adviser consolidator completed a string of acquisitions. Revenue at the AIM-listed firm jumped to £74.3m for the year ending 31 October, fuelling an 82 per cent jump in profit after tax, which hit £10.8m. Read More: Ashmore assets [...]
UK bond chief expresses doubts over green gilts January 20, 2020 The head of the UK’s debt management office (DMO) has questioned the case for issuing “green” government bonds, calling it a “symbolic” step unless investors were willing to pay more for the gilts. Sir Robert Stheeman told the Financial Times the issuing of “green gilts” — government debt where proceeds are spent on environmentally-sustainable projects [...]
Deep in the weeds: How to solve the legal problem of investing in cannabis January 20, 2020 A growing controversy exists which is being discussed with increased frequency by commentators concerning the restrictions on UK firms that wish to invest in the overseas cannabis industry. The controversy arises from the uncertainty regarding the legality of investing in a foreign company, based somewhere that cannabis is legal. In the UK, cannabis and synthetic [...]