A growing gap between what men and women receive in employer pensions contributions is causing a £47,000 shortfall for women February 22, 2017 A gap between the amount men and women receive in employer pensions contributions means there will be a near £47,000 shortfall by the end of a woman's working life. According to the Zurich Workplace Savings Barometer, a mass study of 250,000 pension plans, last year on average, men under the age of 35 received £217 [...]
Gresham House launches a platform for pension funds that want to make an impact February 21, 2017 Mammoth pension funds are to be able to invest into smaller, socially responsible projects through a new platform announced today. The initiative has been created by AIM-quoted investment house Gresham House and has attracted cornerstone interest from Berkshire's local government pension fund, alongside a 20 per cent shareholding the fund has agreed to take in Gresham House itself. Larger pension funds [...]
Three questions to ask on a profit warning – your reporting season survival guide February 21, 2017 | City Talk If you’ve ever felt there was more financial and business news around at this time of year than any other but weren’t sure why, the reason is something known as ‘reporting season’. All UK companies are required by law to publish their annual report and accounts within three months of their financial year-end and [...]
Coup de grace: Are investors misjudging Marine Le Pen’s chances of victory in France’s presidential election? February 21, 2017 "Fool me twice, shame on me,” goes the idiom. Caught out by shock victories for the Leave and Trump campaigns in 2016, investors are determined not to let political risk get the better of them a third time as the French presidential election approaches this spring. Since the beginning of the year, French government bonds [...]
Asset managers await City watchdog’s final industry report after closing comments on interim recommendations February 20, 2017 The City watchdog today closed the consultation on its interim asset management market study report and will release its final recommendations in the second quarter of this year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its interim report in November, criticising weak price competition, transparency issues, conflicts of interests and sustained profitability of asset management companies. Read [...]
Netflix and Hills: how streaming services are moving in on Hollywood real estate February 20, 2017 | City Talk The Schroders Global Cities Index ranks the fastest growing urban economies in the world. We write about our favourite cities on the Global Cities Blog. With Netflix having just committed to an office spanning 25 acres in Hollywood, we explain why we like LA. Sitting at number six in the Global Cities Index, we rate Los [...]
Government mulls handing watchdog more powers over struggling pension schemes, but experts warn suggestions not enough to prevent another BHS-style fiasco February 20, 2017 The government is considering handing the pensions watchdog more powers to regulate struggling or badly governed pension schemes. The Department for Work and Pensions' green paper on 'Security and Sustainability in Defined Benefit Pension Schemes', which was published today, is asking for feedback on a variety of pension issues. These include whether to extend the Pension [...]
BMW bosses meet union reps for crunch talks to avoid strike chaos at Mini and Rolls-Royce February 20, 2017 BMW bosses meet with union representatives today in a bid to avoid industrial action in a row over what Unite has described as "pensions robbery". Unite has warned BMW to brace itself for "serious industrial action" involving some 7,000 car workers should the car company "continue to ignore their concerns". Strikes are on the horizon at BMW [...]
Look away, investors: Global dividend levels barely budged in 2016 February 20, 2017 Global dividends inched up just 0.1 per cent in 2016, dragged down by lack of growth in shareholder payouts from US companies and sharp downturns from the UK and Australia. The figures released today as part of the Henderson Global Dividend Index found dividends around the world reached $1.154 trillion (£930bn) last year. While US dividends still [...]
Feeling the burden of social care and the NHS? Crowdfunding can save us February 16, 2017 Earlier this month, a crowfunding platform launched solely to raise money to create adult-only games. This week, teachers from schools in Portland, Oregon turned to crowdfunding to help close gaps in funding for classroom equipment. And last week, we ran an interview on this page with Julia Salasky, the founder and chief executive of CrowdJustice. Her [...]