Marks & Spencer pension scheme transfers £1.4bn to two insurers May 23, 2019 Troubled retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has transferred £1.4bn in pension scheme liabilities to two insurance companies, bringing the total insurance coverage to two thirds. Phoenix Group has insured £460m of liabilities, covering 5,000 pensioners, while Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has insured £900m of the £10bn pension scheme. Read more: M&S braced for fresh decline [...]
How long will luck last for Centrica’s 13% dividend yield? May 23, 2019 | City Talk Times are hard and the yield screams danger, but Centrica has not cut the payout. Next results are key. The press was awash with stories predicting a nasty cut to Vodafone (LSE:VOD) dividend before it published full-year results. Few would be surprised. But BT (LSE:BT.A) kept shareholders on side by committing to its generous payout, and Centrica (LSE:CNA), one of [...]
ii Winter Portfolio doubles after fifth market-beating year May 22, 2019 | City Talk After an amazing fifth winter, our portfolio almost doubles in value and beats all the global indices, proving that international investors are wrong to ignore UK stocks. It also proves it is possible to time the market. Five years ago, our interest was piqued by a stock market phenomenon that promised consistent market-beating returns year [...]
How to cope with the confusion around social care costs May 22, 2019 Distracted by the ongoing Brexit crisis, the government appears to have shoved the not-so-small issue of social care to one side. With a growing elderly population (by 2046, a quarter of the UK population will be aged 65 or over), and proportionately fewer taxpayers able to prop them up, the rising cost of social care [...]
Is two-year low the nadir for IAG shares? May 21, 2019 | City Talk Investors have taken these results as a cue to pick up cheap stock, betting that the worst is over. In the context of its financial year, the first quarter will probably be one which International Consolidated Airlines Group (LSE:IAG) will want to forget. As can be seen from the demise of several smaller airlines over [...]
Analysts downgrade Neil Woodford flagship fund due to ‘underperformance’ May 20, 2019 Analysts at Morningstar have downgraded veteran investor Neil Woodford’s flagship fund due to underperformance. Woodford Equity Income fund’s rating was lowered from bronze to neutral, which is the research group’s second lowest ranking, following “persistent” redemption requests as investors exit. Read more: Fund manager Neil Woodford doubles stake in Card Factory The fund, which was [...]
Lloyds Bank has more great news for income investors May 20, 2019 | City Talk It already pays a big dividend, but there's even more to like about Lloyds after last week's announcement. Around this time next year, Lloyds Banking Group's (LSE:LLOY) vast army of loyal shareholders will receive their first quarterly dividend. The news, announced last Thursday, will be well-received by the bank's investors who will value a more [...]
Big cryptocurrencies bounce back, but smaller rivals lie in wait May 20, 2019 | City Talk For users and proponents of cryptocurrencies, the stamp of approval from online auction giant eBay set the seal on a powerful comeback during this year so far. Bitcoin and some other selected cryptocurrencies are to be accepted as a form of payment by eBay. This doesn’t only greatly expand the “network effect” by which a [...]
Familiarity bias: how to overcome the fear of the unfamiliar to reach your investing goals May 20, 2019 | City Talk For the vast majority of people, like you and me, trading is not a full-time job. Though you try to do your best and make impactful investment decisions, you tend to make things “easier” (at least, you think you do so) and gravitate towards the familiar. In this case you may end up investing in [...]
Bitcoin bounces as the pound plunges: what’s next for global markets? May 20, 2019 | City Talk Last week was all about a modern currency enjoying some big moves – all while a more established one was plunging. Bitcoin has been grabbing its fair share of headlines in recent months, with the crypto favourite trading above $8,000 last week for the first time since July last year. This served to bring the [...]