Sunak says pensions triple lock remains government policy as he faces £4bn bill June 17, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said the triple lock on pensions remains government policy after it emerged that he may have to spend £4bn more on pensioners from next year if he sticks to the pledge. Sunak was grilled on the issue in an interview with GB News, after ONS data published earlier in the week [...]
Q&A: the end of big oil? June 16, 2021 | City Talk Our “in the news” series focuses on recent dramatic events in the energy industry as oil majors were held to account over climate change. We explain what’s happened and how Schroders acted on behalf of clients. The oil industry last week faced a “paradigm shift” after climate activists and asset managers led revolts at the [...]
Crypto assets: you can doubt, but you can’t hide June 15, 2021 | City Talk It is no longer prudent to ignore the potential of crypto assets. The investment industry can be sceptical about crypto assets. Investors can certainly choose not allocate to them, but few can afford to ignore them. Why? Not just because Bitcoin’s dizzying ascent has captured the popular imagination but the more persuasive reasons why the [...]
To notify or not to notify? The potential perils of uncertain tax treatments June 15, 2021 | City Talk The Government is proposing that large businesses should be required to notify uncertain tax treatments to HMRC. ICAS has responded to the second HMRC consultation on the proposals – the fundamental flaw in the original proposals has not been addressed. They remain poorly targeted, so will potentially impose a burden on all large businesses. Why [...]
Executive pay gap: Men get paid 23 per cent more than women at director level June 14, 2021 Senior men get paid up to 23 per cent more than women, according to new research shared with City A.M. this evening. The gender pay gap is particularly substantial in senior positions and can be as high as 23 per cent for directors, while the associate level stands at 9 per cent, according to data [...]
Last chance to back fantastic Hear Art film campaign June 14, 2021 There is just a week left to support one of City A.M.’s favourite arts initiatives, Hear Art, in its crowdfunding campaign to raise £15,000 to help fund films made by deaf filmmakers. Hear Art is a non-profit platform founded by Cindy Sasha (photographer/activist) and Rachel Shenton (actress/writer/activist) to help address the lack of opportunities for [...]
How tech and medical advances are transforming healthcare investing June 14, 2021 | City Talk Healthcare innovation specialist John Bowler explains the revolution going on in the sector. Covid-19 aside, what other issues are emerging that will reshape the healthcare sector? The main drivers of healthcare remain unchanged: there is accelerating demand for healthcare services as people are increasingly living longer. Governments around the world face budget pressures with the [...]
How are vaccine programmes progressing in emerging markets? June 11, 2021 | City Talk Some emerging markets will be vulnerable to renewed activity restrictions in the coming months. For investors, this will require careful monitoring. The roll out of Covid-19 vaccines remains a conundrum facing investors in emerging markets (EM). As we noted late last year, few EM were proactive in securing sufficient supplies of effective vaccines. So they were [...]
A third of gig economy couriers and delivery drivers have no savings June 9, 2021 Around 30 per cent of gig economy drivers, riders and couriers across Europe had no savings in the first half of 2021. Almost half of the 10,000 workers surveyed had experienced a claimable event such as an accident. Of these, only 12 per cent had actually made a claim and 69 per cent had a [...]
The £33k cost of trying to time the market June 9, 2021 | City Talk “Buy low, sell high” – that’s every investor’s goal. However, it’s easier said than done. In practice timing the market is notoriously difficult. It can also be costly. Our research highlights potential losses if your attempts to time market highs and lows go wrong. The dramatic drop in share prices at the onset of the [...]