DEBATE: Should the London Stock Exchange cut its hours to improve work-life balance for traders? November 8, 2019 Should the London Stock Exchange cut its hours to improve work-life balance for traders? Galina Dimitrova, director of investment and capital markets at the Investment Association, says YES. Trading hours in the UK are 8am to 4:30pm GMT — some of the longest in the world. That doesn’t sound like a long day, but traders [...]
What happens to high yield bonds in times of market stress? November 6, 2019 | City Talk The current macroeconomic backdrop is creating challenges for investors. Global growth is slower and inflation is benign. Meanwhile, central banks appear to be returning to more accommodative policies and geopolitical tensions have increased. Downturns in the business cycle, often caused by adverse economic conditions, can lead to a number of trends that are negative for [...]
What Thomas Cook’s collapse tells us about the power of disruption November 4, 2019 | City Talk Whilst the failure of UK holiday firm Thomas Cook was sudden and a considerable shock to many, the writing has been on the wall for some time now. Driven by technology and specifically by the advent of online booking and reservation systems, the travel industry has long been undergoing a radical transformation across each of [...]
What does disruption mean for investors? November 1, 2019 | City Talk In this short video, Alex Tedder discusses the opportunities that disruption and innovation bring for investors. We’re really excited about disruption because it’s something that’s taking place around us every day. With disruption you typically get innovation. And innovation creates tremendous growth opportunities for investors. That’s why we’re so excited right now. You only have [...]
The death of yields in six charts October 30, 2019 | City Talk There has been a relentless downward move in global bond yields since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. This trend – underpinned by highly supportive central bank policies and stubbornly low inflation – has been a defining characteristic of the post-crisis world. Another defining trait of this period, and a landmark for financial markets, has been [...]
What do negative bond yields mean for investors? October 28, 2019 | City Talk As the synchronised slowdown in the global economy continues, central banks have yet again stepped in to attempt to extend what has already been the longest economic and stock market expansion in history. With interest rates across the world already low and in some cases negative, the stark reality is that the future impact of [...]
The six biggest bull runs since 1962 (and their corrections) October 28, 2019 | City Talk The current bull market in US stocks started in March 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis and is the longest in recent history, beating the rally between July 1962 and May 1970 by over four years. At the time of writing, the bull market is still going. US stocks are up more [...]
The regulator’s intervention on car finance hides an underlying reality October 28, 2019 The UK’s car finance boom has been a cause for concern for some time now, and the regulator is finally cracking down on questionable practices. One common complaint of this sector has been the practice whereby a car dealer or broker will make commission on the interest rate of the loan. By setting a higher [...]
Which stock markets are “cheap” entering the final quarter of 2019? October 25, 2019 | City Talk There are plenty of reasons why investors could justifiably feel pessimistic about the future, but stock market valuations are not one of them. In 2019 the global economy has gone into a marked slowdown. US-China relations have remained tense. Drones have attacked oil infrastructure in the Middle East. Global corporate earnings growth has collapsed towards [...]
Litigation finance comes of age October 24, 2019 | Sponsored Once the preserve of hedge funds and other large institutions, private investors can now share in the potential high returns offered by litigation finance. The UK’s first litigation crowdfunding platform, AxiaFunder, which launched in January, enables primarily high-net-worth and sophisticated investors to provide funding to claimants who can’t afford to pay for their legal disputes. [...]