The bucket list? Here are the top 10 things new retirees are desperate to do – and how much they cost April 26, 2016 For many, the nine-to-five slog is made just that little bit more bearable by dreams of a sunny and stress-free retirement. With warnings left, right and centre about how we're going to be working into our seventies or how nobody is saving enough for a pension, The Share Centre has issued a timely reminder for those hoping [...]
City A.M. Unregulated podcast: Episode four – Does The Divide mean capitalism has failed? April 26, 2016 Unlicensed and off-the-leash, this is City A.M. Unregulated. A no-holds-barred, uncensored look at the stories breaking the news and the markets across the globe. Unregulated dives straight into one of capitalism's biggest debates this week: as The Divide, the documentary looking at the story of seven people as they strive for a better life, is [...]
End of tax year investor rush drives positive fund sales in March April 25, 2016 Net retail investor sales shot up to £379m last month as punters rushed into fixed income, mixed asset and targeted absolute return funds. Cautious investors backed out of equity funds, however, with an outflow of £459m, according to the the Investment Association's monthly statistics release. Investors are still nervous after worldwide share issues slumped to a seven-year [...]
UK pensions: A pre-funded state pension scheme would be fairer for the young, MPs told April 25, 2016 People should pay for their own retirement, rather than funding the golden years of the generation ahead, a hearing on intergenerational fairness has been told today. Speaking in front of the Work and Pensions Committee, Philip Booth, editorial and programme director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, argued that a system whereby people saved up [...]
Taxman pockets roughly £87m from people who missed the tax return deadline April 25, 2016 Despite being warned about a £100 late filing penalty, it appears that some people still forgot to circle 31 January in their diary with red pen. According to statistics released today from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), 870,000 people missed the 31 January 2016 deadline for filing their tax return online. [...]
Brace yourself, bosses: Leading investor reveals it shot down resolutions at almost one in five AGMs last year April 25, 2016 As companies such as Shire and AstraZeneca brace themselves for a rocky AGM season, one major asset manager has today revealed that it has been voting no for some time now. Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), which held assets worth over £750bn at the end of 2015, has revealed that it shot down at least one resolution at [...]
The fortune of billionaire hedge fund manager Crispin Odey dwindled to mere millions last year April 22, 2016 The wealth of one of the UK's best-known hedge fund managers dwindled from billions to mere millions last year, new data has shown. The heart bleeds… According to figures from the Sunday Times Rich List, the fortune of Crispin Odey – the outspoken founder of Odey Asset Management – fell £200m in 2015, from £1.1bn to £900m. But [...]
How technology is driving investor interest in British entrepreneurs April 22, 2016 Investors are increasingly interested in British entrepreneurs, according to a new report. Growth capital raising in the UK, driven by automating technology, totalled £360m across 76 transactions in the first quarter, research by Kingston Smith found. The report noted that the figure was down from £405m across 99 transactions in the first quarter of 2015, but [...]
Financial services watchdog reveals more information on the secondary market for annuities April 21, 2016 The financial services watchdog has today asked for feedback on its proposed rules on the second-hand market for annuities. Suggestions by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) include requiring brokers to set out charges up front and agree them directly with the customer, rather than receiving a commission from firms acting as buyers, and to provide [...]
P2P lending: Does the industry need more than just transparency? April 21, 2016 "Skin in the game” is an expression thrown around a lot in the P2P industry. Platforms don’t have banking licences and the majority don’t lend off their own balance sheets. So the question for some time now has been “what loss position will the platform take in the event of loan failure?” With increasing talk [...]