Chris Hohn’s activist fund attacks Safran’s “enormously destructive” €8.5bn Zodiac takeover March 14, 2017 Chris Hohn’s activist hedge fund has had another bite at French aircraft-engine maker Safran over a planned €8.5bn (£7.4bn) takeover. The Children’s Investment (TCI) Fund, which owns a 4.1 per cent stake in Safran, publicised its opposition to the deal for plane-seat maker Zodiac last month, saying it had “no strategic rationale”. Safran hit back shortly [...]
How can investors navigate the choppy waters of European politics? March 14, 2017 Remember this time last year, when Brexit was an outside chance and not many Brits really believed Trump could convince half a country to vote for him? They’re saying much the same thing now about France’s Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, but I think we’ve all learnt to take the polls [...]
Behavioural insights on financial advice March 14, 2017 | City Talk Saving and investing decisions are often made from opposite sides of the financial services spectrum. Advisers have the difficult job of building trust and bridging the two sides and their diverse demands. Matching the needs of retail savers with investment returns provided by users of capital is not easy as the two opposing sides — [...]
Another shareholder spring? Execs, companies and institutional investors under pressure ahead of AGM season March 12, 2017 Highly-paid executives, companies and institutional investors are expected to come under increased scrutiny in the upcoming AGM season, with remuneration policies in the firing line. Bosses at Shell, Glaxosmithkline and BAE Systems came under pressure last week, and experts are expecting plenty more investor challenges in the coming months. Many firms are facing the added complication this [...]
Where to put your money? These are the most popular fund platforms for investors in the UK March 10, 2017 Investor confidence bounced up towards the end of 2016, new figures out today show, but failed to make up for a year “overshadowed by political uncertainty”. Annual platform net sales were down 16 per cent over the year as a whole, from £45bn in 2015 to £38bn in 2016. This included £10.5bn in the last [...]
How safe are dividends? March 8, 2017 | City Talk The income paid by stock market companies to investors could be about to come under pressure. The twice yearly payments made to investors can be a vital income supplement for those in retirement. Others reinvest the dividends to boost long-term returns. But research compiled by Schroders shows European and US companies are diverting a high [...]
Marine Le Pen could win the French election: Markets need to expect the unexpected March 8, 2017 If there's one thing markets have had to come to terms with in recent years, it’s that assumption breeds complacency. Such is the case with the upcoming elections in France: investors should have hawk eyes focused eyes on The Republic. With the yield spread between French and German 10-year government bonds touching their highest level [...]
Online investment platforms help close the gender participation gap in equity markets by a fifth March 8, 2017 Online investment platforms could help tackle gender inequality in participation in equity markets, according to an investor study of diversity trends. Research by SyndicateRoom into attitudes to investment found that online investment platforms had reduced inequality in male-female participation in equity markets by nearly 20 per cent. Men were 17 per cent more likely to access [...]
Budget 2017: Experts make eight predictions as to what is in store for pensions and savings March 7, 2017 In his Autumn statement chancellor Philip Hammond resisted the temptation of making sweeping changes to pensions and savings. However, according to AJ Bell's senior analyst Tom Selby: “Tinkering with pension contribution allowances is a perennial favourite of chancellors on Budget day and Philip Hammond showed he was no exception in the Autumn Statement." Here's eight topics experts are [...]
There’s a dead simple reason for these record market highs March 7, 2017 As equity markets continue their extraordinary and interminable upward trajectory, it was wonderful last week to see the ever modest leader of the free world taking time off from bashing journalists, among others, to take some well-earned credit for stocks putting on $3.2 trillion in value. Given the fact that both the Dow and the [...]