Five things I learned (and relearned) in my first year as a VC May 31, 2016 1. Time is a brutal taskmaster You want to give everybody a fair crack of the whip but in truth you have to filter fast. The elevator pitch really does matter. If you, as a founder, can't communicate the essence of your proposition and your own skills quickly you won't cut through the noise. This filtering [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open May 31, 2016 It's the last day of May, people are back at their desks after a long weekend in the UK and the US and markets in New York are pointing up. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 14:30 London time. Ahead of the open the S&P is up by 0.04 [...]
Brexit not even close to the top spot in list of investors’ top concerns May 31, 2016 Retail investors are shrugging off concerns about the EU referendum, as they turn their attention to bigger events on the horizon. More than nine in ten investors said they could think of an issue which was more worrying than the possibility of Brexit, in new research from The Share Centre. Top of investors' minds was the Chinese [...]
Three stocks to make your portfolio hum May 31, 2016 There is (almost) nothing more delightful than a good stock picker who’s passionate about why he or she chooses to invest in a certain company. I especially respect the fund managers who take a hard look at the numbers and then make time to meet with management of a company. And I love the ones who, [...]
Best of British: Four top UK stocks for your ISA – the cream of the house builders, defence, television and retail May 31, 2016 The UK is home to many great businesses and buying shares in ones with good business models and prospects for growth can be a great way to boost savings in an Isa or Sipp. Markets have been rocky this year because of Brexit and trouble overseas, but we asked the best fund managers for examples of [...]
Week ahead: Data set to steer the FTSE after four day rising streak May 30, 2016 Markets are set to be moved by data this week after the FTSE 100 posted its biggest weekly gain since mid-April last week. The blue-chip index closed at 6,270.79 on Friday, a fourth straight day of gains and up two per cent on the week. The FTSE’s winning run is largely due to an oil [...]
Neil Woodford is expected to pick up a stake in Time Out when it unveils its plans to list tomorrow May 30, 2016 Star fund manager Neil Woodford is expected to be among investors in line to pick up a stake in media group Time Out when it unveils plans for its London listing tomorrow. Time Out's long expected float on the London junior Aim market is set to value the company at between £185m and £225m. The company, which has [...]
Should you start hoarding gold? Some say China’s gold ambitions mean you should keep some stashed at home May 26, 2016 China’s decision to buy its second gold storage vault in London last week was another step towards total dominance of the market. The vault is in a secret location and was bought by Chinese state-owned bank ICBC Standard Bank from Barclays. It could store $90bn of gold at today’s prices, and follows the purchase of [...]
Food is the megatrend of the future and investing in meat, pork, health foods and grains is making investors money May 26, 2016 Doom-mongers often talk of the impending explosion in the human population. There will be 9bn people on the planet by 2050, and one of the big problems will be how to feed so many mouths. “Global supply and demand is out of balance, and in a state of flux,” says Hugo Rogers of the Liontrust [...]
Buy to let investors are feeling the heat: What are the alternatives for gaining exposure to residential property? May 26, 2016 The buy-to-let boom of recent years has fed the stereotype that Brits are uniquely obsessed with property. Yet statistically this appears to be little more than a myth. The latest data from Eurostat show that 64.8 per cent of the UK adult population lives in a property they own compared to an EU average of [...]