Which markets are cheap? April 6, 2017 | City Talk If the fund managers we spoke to in our recent article “has the value ship sailed” are right, and the rally in value-style stocks has further to run, then where are the market areas they think are cheap right now? Japan, Europe and Asia, as well as banks and high yield bonds, are all in [...]
The ‘£2,332’ reason to invest tax-efficiently April 5, 2017 | City Talk An investor who puts £5,000 each year into the UK stockmarket through an Individual Savings Account (Isa) could save £2,332 in tax over ten years, new analysis suggests. This is because Isas offer protection from the taxman. An Isa is a tax shelter for investments, such as cash or shares. For cash Isas, the savings [...]
The stock market ‘value’ rally: how far will it go? April 5, 2017 | City Talk Until 2016 it had been nearly 10 years of plain sailing for growth stocks and the value investment style had been left in its wake. In 2016, however, the tide began to turn, shown on the right-hand side of the chart below. The MSCI World Value Index rose 12.3% over the calendar year in dollar [...]
What next for price of gold? March 31, 2017 | City Talk Is now the time to be investing in gold? With inflation on the rise and political risk high opinion is divided. Here, we explain the basics on gold pricing and ask fund managers who specialise in the commodity to share their views. Gold, one of the oldest known metals, was revered by all the great [...]
Saving for a £1m Isa: How the sums have changed March 29, 2017 | City Talk British savers have grown used to getting an annual increase in the amount they can tuck away in a tax-efficient Isa. But the increase this year is far bigger than usual. In the new tax year, which starts on 6 April, the allowance will increase from £15,240 to £20,000. This changes the sums for those [...]
Three charts showing why we remain very happy to hold UK banks March 20, 2017 | City Talk Investors have tended to steer clear of the UK’s big banks since the financial crisis bit in 2008, when share prices plummeted and Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) had to be bailed out with taxpayer money. As we tend to do, on our Value Perspective blog, we took a different view – arguing [...]
Chris Hohn’s Children’s Investment Fund has stepped up its bid to end the €8.5bn Safran-Zodiac deal March 20, 2017 Sir Chris Hohn’s activist hedge fund has stepped up its campaign to halt an €8.5bn (£7.4bn) takeover. And now, it’s getting personal. The Children’s Investment (TCI) Fund has written to the board members of Safran, the aircraft engine maker that has agreed to buy plane-seat maker Zodiac, threatening to sue them personally if the deal goes [...]
Three charts showing why we remain very happy to hold UK banks March 20, 2017 | City Talk Investors have tended to steer clear of the UK’s big banks since the financial crisis bit in 2008, when share prices plummeted and Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) had to be bailed out with taxpayer money. As we tend to do, on our Value Perspective blog, we took a different view – arguing [...]
Taxman levies inheritance tax on £5.8bn of shares March 19, 2017 Half of all inherited shares were subject to inheritance tax (IHT) according the latest figures, prompting calls for people to manage their personal finances more efficiently. Around £5.8bn of the £11.7bn of securities passed down were subject to IHT, according to data prepared by HM Revenue & Customs. Read more: How the taxman benefits from the large growth [...]
GKN considers debt raise in order to manage £2bn pension shortfall March 19, 2017 Engineering group GKN is preparing to go to debt markets to raise £200m in an attempt to placate the trustees of its pension scheme, according to reports. The FTSE 100 group is in the middle of a three-yearly review of its pension scheme with 2016 accounting valuations revealing its deficit had swelled by £475m over the last 12 months to [...]