The big fixer-upper: How to solve the problems in the mortgage market May 15, 2019 We've sent people into space, built driverless cars, and engineered robots that can think like us. And yet, fixing the mortgage approval process still seems out of humanity’s reach. The market is riddled with inefficiencies. Consumers are forced to fill out documents detailing every corner of their lives, while clunky underwriting processes mean that it [...]
Why Domino’s Pizza sell-off was overcooked May 14, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Hungry bargain hunters gobbled up shares in Domino's, correctly betting than an early slump was unfair. After selling 12 pizzas every second on New Year's Day, the rest of 2019 certainly hasn't panned out in the same emphatic fashion for Domino's Pizzaor its investors. Shares slumped as much as [...]
Four ways passive investing has altered the markets May 14, 2019 Ever since the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) listed in Europe 19 years ago, passive investing has proved hugely popular. ETFs are traded like stocks, and simply track the big indices like the FTSE 100 or the Dow Jones, as opposed to having a fund manager cherry-pick individual companies for you. And with the lowest annual [...]
Cybersecurity: why you’re right to be cautious May 13, 2019 | City Talk By Ian Hall (City AM, for the CFA Institute) The threat of cybersecurity and data-privacy attacks is under-estimated and growing, and organisations and individuals should proceed with extreme care in respect of digital information security, according to a Switzerland-based expert. David Basin, Professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, used a seminar at the 72nd [...]
US regulator SEC gives go-ahead for first ‘negative fee’ fund May 13, 2019 The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US financial regulator, has approved the first ever “negative fee” fund, which will pay investors for depositing their money. New York-based Salt Financial has waived its 0.29 per cent fee and will contribute 0.05 per cent to the fund instead meaning an investor will receive $5 (£3.86) for [...]
BP: Discipline and efficiency underpin ‘buy’ case May 13, 2019 | City Talk Profits are down in the first quarter, but BP remains on track, writes our head of markets. BP (LSE:BP.) may not have repeated its immense performance from the full-year numbers in February, but nonetheless remains on track to deliver on its strategic promises. The company's prodigious cash flow continues to enable its share buyback programme, [...]
The real revolution in electric vehicles… May 13, 2019 | City Talk Electric vehicles (EVs) have reached a clear inflection point. Product quality has improved and consumer availability is expanding rapidly. Perhaps most importantly, the cost of electric car ownership is finally approaching parity with traditional combustion engine cars. The colourful stories within the industry have also helped generate interest: the spectacular and turbulent growth story of [...]
India’s Hinduja brothers top Rich List for third time as Jim Ratcliffe loses out May 12, 2019 Britain’s 1,000 richest people have again had their respective fortunes stacked against each other to determine the most wealthy person in the country, in the 2019 Sunday Times Rich List. This year it was bad news for Jim Ratcliffe, owner of chemicals giant Ineos, who dropped to third place after topping last year’s list, while [...]
Why bombed-out Sainsbury’s leads the FTSE 100 May 10, 2019 | City Talk Hammered since the Asda merger was blocked, our head of markets explains the surge to a three-week high. Rather than fight the decision of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Sainsbury (LSE:SBRY) and Asda decided to call off the wedding. This leaves a huge strategic question mark over where Sainsbury's goes next. Not surprisingly, the [...]
The relief of revenue reserves May 10, 2019 | Sponsored There is no question that we find ourselves in uncertain times. It is during periods of uncertainty that the investment trust structure has distinct merits. That’s because investment trusts, which are listed companies in their own right, can store future income away for a rainy day – a unique function of investment trusts called revenue [...]