Shareholders lambast Standard Life over excessive boadroom pay deals May 17, 2016 Standard Life faced a backlash from shareholders at its annual general meeting on Tuesday with 22 per cent of votes cast going against the investment group’s executive pay report. Other big companies caught up in a so-called shareholder spring in the past few weeks include BP, Smith & Nephew, Shire, Regus, Weir Group and Anglo American. [...]
Five things you should know about Brexit and your finances May 17, 2016 Six weeks to go before the Europe referendum on 23 June and both sides are campaigning hard. Boris Johnson says the only safe option is to leave, while Bank of England governor Mark Carney cautions that it’s a dangerous choice, as everything from employment to food prices will be affected. We take a look at the [...]
How young investors are less patient with funds than their elders May 16, 2016 Younger investors appear to be less patient than their elders, according the findings of a global survey of more than 5,000. Legg Mason’s 2016 Global Investment Study found that 38 per cent of UK investors will give an underperforming fund more than 12 months to turn things around. Of those aged over 40 in the [...]
Forget the gender pay gap – it’s the gender investment gap you really have to worry about May 16, 2016 It's not just the gap in pay that women need to worry about, as a study out today shows they are also getting a raw deal on their investments. The research by investment provider Radius Equity found that men make an average of £3,794 per year from their investments, which is 57 per cent more than women's [...]
Is the IMF right that a vote to leave the EU would lead to sharp drops in share prices? May 13, 2016 Aengus Collins, country forecast director at the Economist Intelligence Unit, says Yes. Volatility in the UK’s financial markets would unquestionably surge in response to a vote to leave the European Union. Although the medium-term economic impact wouldn’t necessarily be dramatically worse than the baseline, the immediate aftermath of a leave vote would potentially be brutal. The [...]
Investment by private equity firms across Europe rose in 2015 as buyouts climb May 10, 2016 Private equity investment across Europe grew by 14 per cent last year as investors pumped more cash into startups and high-growth firms across the continent. A total of €47.4bn was invested into companies by private equity firms in 2015, according to industry association, Invest Europe, up by one-seventh on last year. "Despite volatile financial markets and macroeconomic [...]
China’s drowning in debt, defaults are rising and investors have turned bearish as corporates must pay back billions this year May 10, 2016 China's massive debt levels have started to spook investors. The country’s corporate borrowers face a record $571bn of debt that’s due to mature this year, according to figures from Bloomberg. That’s cash they’ll either have to pay back or refinance. Too bad, then, that sentiment towards local debt has begun to sour. There has been a [...]
People really want to invest in equities but don’t know where to start May 9, 2016 Many people would love to try to boost their savings pot by having a go at investing in equities, but don't have a clue where to begin, research out today has found. According to the survey by equity crowdfunding platform SyndicateRoom, almost half (46 per cent) of people were keen to invest in shares on the public [...]
Should you believe in unicorns? Tech start-ups have polarised investors with Bill Gates calling for restraint but others arguing new tech will change the world May 9, 2016 The sad demise of unicorns was widely predicted at the start of the year. Unicorns – or young, technology private companies valued at over $1bn (£693m) – drew vast sums of investment throughout last year and comparisons with the dot-com boom were drawn. There are around 170 companies with unicorn status, according to Fortune. Some are [...]
Shareholder spring freezes over: Reckitt Benckiser, Rolls Royce, and GlaxoSmithKline give their approval to executive pay plans May 5, 2016 The prospect of a fresh shareholder spring was delivered another blow today. Shareholders of consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser, engineering firm Rolls Royce, and drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline all gave their approval to their respective executive pay packages with votes coming in above 80 per cent in favour across the board. Reckitt, now rebranded as RB, had the toughest time of the three [...]