Does your child have a forgotten £1,000 nest egg? September 7, 2018 | City Talk Child Trust Funds (CTFs) were once a popular way to save for children. They were introduced in April 2005 to encourage long-term saving and give all children a financial boost by the time they reached 18. The government sent vouchers to parents of between £250 and £500 to give accounts a head start, and family [...]
Ten events that could move stock markets in the final quarter of 2018 September 7, 2018 | City Talk As many northern hemisphere investors get their feet back under their desks after the summer break, we look at the key events and themes likely to be on the agenda for September and the fourth quarter of 2018. 1) Global trade negotiations The US and China held fresh, and largely fruitless, trade talks in August. [...]
Asset management group Ashmore to open Ireland office ahead of Brexit September 7, 2018 Asset management firm Ashmore is establishing an Irish subsidiary as part of its Brexit contingency planning. The emerging markets investment manager, which is headquartered in London, will open the office in order to continue serving clients after Britain leaves the European Union. Read more: John Laing Group share price jumps amid profit surge The new [...]
European Court rules that UK pension lifeboat must lift compensation cap September 6, 2018 The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled today that pensioners should receive at least 50 per cent of the value of their pension in the event that their employer goes bust. The UK’s pensions lifeboat, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), had capped compensation for those that had lost their pensions when their employers [...]
UK equity funds out of favour due to Brexit as outflows hit £315m September 6, 2018 The UK is "firmly out of favour" with equity fund investors as outflows hit £315m in July. Outflows have totalled £3.5bn so far this year over ongoing Brexit uncertainty, data published by the Investment Association today shows. Read more: Sterling jumps on report Germany and UK could offer key Brexit concessions Funds in the UK were [...]
Is a rise in this niche borrowing a red-flag indicator for the stock market? September 6, 2018 | City Talk “There can be few fields of human endeavour in which history counts for so little as in the world of finance.” John Kenneth Galbraith On The Value Perspective blog, we have a folder of what we call ‘red-flag market indicators’. It has started to bulge as investor confidence, a decade into an equity bull market, continues [...]
Time for MPs to act on three-year tenancies September 6, 2018 The terms of the debate on longer-term tenancies are well set. On the one hand, tenants deserve to feel at home in their rented accommodation. On the other, there needs to be a stock of rented housing, and if landlords are too penalised, they will leave the market. The debate is now reaching a crunch [...]
Child trust funds: Should you trust your teenager with their financial future? September 6, 2018 On the surface, a product that is designed to encourage parents to save money for their children sounds ideal. But child trust funds (CTFs) are riddled with problems. The first CTFs reached maturity at the beginning of this month, potentially giving some 16-year-olds partial control over a big pot of cash. Introduced by the then [...]
Pensions provider Just delays dividend amid mortgage rule change fears September 6, 2018 Pensions provider Just Group has delayed issuing its half-year dividend due to the threat posed to its finances by new lifetime mortgage rules. The life insurer also reported an 85 per cent increase in its adjusted operating profit to £124m for the six months ending 30 June after “exceptional sales growth” of its retirement products. [...]
Goldman Sachs reportedly ditches bitcoin trading plans, taking crypto prices with it September 5, 2018 Goldman Sachs is reportedly dropping its plans to open a desk for trading cryptocurrencies, in a move which yesterday sent the prices of popular coins such as ethereum and bitcoin skidding. Sources familiar with the matter told Business Insider that Goldman Sachs was nervous to continue with the plans while future global regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies [...]