From Italy to Trump, why are investors so complacent about political risk? August 30, 2016 As Theresa May plotted with her Cabinet this weekend about the country’s plan for Brexit, doomsday-predictors should have every reason to be amazed at where asset prices sit today. Funnily enough, market-savvy Brexiteers I spoke to in the aftermath of the vote were surprised but sanguine, saying markets always overreact. Clearly in the short term [...]
Want to cut the wait time when you call the tax man? These are the best times to call August 30, 2016 A new study of call waiting times at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has revealed the best times to call the tax man if you want to get through quickly. A July parliamentary report revealed that the average call waiting time in October was close to 35 minutes, as the deadline for paper submissions of [...]
An art rather than a science: one way to value the assets, four ways to value the liabilities August 29, 2016 Many of us like big numbers. But when it comes to pensions deficits, big numbers are not a good thing. Britain’s pension deficit values vary from day-to-day and from calculation to calculation. The numbers cited range from hundreds of billions to trillions of pounds. The reason they differ is because there numerous ways of calculating [...]
Fund Brexodus slows in July after “quite extraordinary” investor outflows in EU referendum month August 25, 2016 Outflows from the UK fund industry continued in July, but slowed after a “quite extraordinary” investor exodus in June, the month of the EU referendum. Net outflows totalled £1bn in July – an improvement on £3.5bn in June – according to the Investment Association. The strongest outflows last month came from equity funds, £2.2bn, but [...]
A slice of the major players: WiseAlpha enables you to invest in big firms for as little as £100 August 25, 2016 Peer-to-peer and marketplace lending have thrown open opportunities for retail investors – from investing in SME and consumer debt to property, in addition to invoice financing options for high net worths. However, there’s one remaining major asset class retail investors have not been able to access – secured corporate loans and bonds (the wholesale variety, [...]
Pension funds want government help to hedge spiralling deficits August 24, 2016 The government has responded to calls for help from Britain's pension funds in managing their ever-growing deficits. The UK Debt Management Office released its latest consultations on Tuesday and concluded it would sell three tranches of index-linked debt within the third quarter of this year – one through a syndicated sale and two through an auction. Long-running pension scheme [...]
City A.M. Unregulated podcast: Millennials to millionaires – how to get started with investing August 24, 2016 This week's podcast takes a look at how even millennials, with their meagre savings, can become millionaires – or at least try. Michelle McGrade, chief investment officer at TD Direct Investing, and Pete Matthew, host of the Meaningful Money podcast, discuss the first steps into investing, and outline the best ways for millennials to make [...]
Learning the hard way: As the interest on student loans rises further, should parents help their children cut the cost of going to university? August 24, 2016 As school leavers jumped for joy at their A-Level results last week, parents may have had cause to grimace. Despite the government’s emphasis on apprenticeships, a university degree remains a passport to higher paid employment. Nevertheless, the costs of higher education have spiralled in recent years, and students are having to take on much larger student [...]
Falling ratios are far from critical according to Fitch August 23, 2016 A top ratings agency has given the UK's life insurance firms a vote of confidence, despite recent tough market conditions. The fall in bond yields over the first half of 2016 may be squeezing solvency ratios at Britain's leading life insurance companies but the decline is not enough to worry ratings agency Fitch, which said they "remain strong". Under Solvency II, insurers [...]
Silver’s performance has been stellar this year, but will loose monetary policy and industrial demand allow it to maintain its surge? August 23, 2016 As Team GB celebrates second place on the Rio medals table, silver has seldom looked so good. It would appear that investors agree. Since the start of the year, the price of gold has risen over 25 per cent, but silver has outpaced it, rising by more than 30 per cent. It’s now at $18.89 [...]