How the experts would invest £1,000 in an ISA right now February 8, 2021 Stocks and shares ISAs are a tax-efficient way to potentially grow your money by investing, so they should be an essential part of your overall wealth planning. But, with such a wide array of investment choice, the hardest part is deciding what to put in them. To give you some food for thought, we asked [...]
How the pros use ISAs to cut clients’ tax bills February 8, 2021 ISAs are more than just places to park some extra cash to grow tax-free. Used with a bit of sophistication, they can cut your tax bill by thousands of pounds. Professional financial advisers use ISAs for modestly wealthy clients up to those with multi-million pound portfolios. Why? Because they work. Here’s how to get the [...]
What are VCTs and EIS? A quick guide February 8, 2021 For investors willing to take a chance on smaller and less well-established companies, venture capital trusts (VCTs) and enterprise investment schemes (EIS) offer the opportunity to support up-and-coming businesses. EIS and VCTs can complement other long-term investments like ISAs and pensions, and can be used as an overspill for extra cash once those annual allowances [...]
The rise of TikTok ‘finfluencers’ offers lessons for the investment industry February 2, 2021 No longer just a platform for teenage dance challenges, TikTok is becoming the number one spot for financial advice.
Woolard review: FCA cracks down on £2.7bn buy-now-pay-later market February 2, 2021 Interest-free buy-now-pay-later credit agreements will be regulated by the City watchdog after the market swelled to £2.7bn last year. The plans, drawn up by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), have been designed to protect consumers, after the use of buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) transactions tripled in 2020, as shoppers looked for ways to spread their money further [...]
The truthiness of ESG criticism February 2, 2021 | City Talk There are two often-repeated critiques of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing that I really can’t stand. They have the quality of truthiness about them and are what academics sometimes call “as if” arguments. For my younger readers, the term truthiness is defined by Wikipedia as follows: “Truthiness is the belief or assertion that a particular statement [...]
Hedge fund Melvin Capital bags billions from investors following GameStop debacle February 1, 2021 After losing more than 53 per cent in January, Melvin Capital, the hedge fund at the centre of the GameStop drama, enjoyed a cash injection from investors in the last days of the month. The firm started the year with roughly $12.5bn, according to reports, but that dramatically dipped after it was at the centre [...]
EU securities watchdog calls for stricter regulation on greenwashing January 29, 2021 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said today EU rules are needed to regulate ratings on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects of companies to avoid investors being deceived by “greenwashing”. Asset managers use ESG ratings to make “green” environmentally conscious investment decisions. Greenwashing refers to inaccurate claims that investments are sustainable and [...]
Are any stock markets cheap going into 2021? January 27, 2021 | City Talk Where is the value in stock markets today? This is a difficult question to wrestle with. At face value, the bad news is that everywhere looks to be at nosebleed-red levels of expensiveness. Of the 25 measures in our regular stock market valuation grid below (five markets and five measures for each), 16 are more [...]
Taper Tantrum 2: is there a sequel in the making? January 26, 2021 | City Talk Sequels – occasionally they’re better (The Godfather Part II), but most of the time they’re worse. Often far worse (Jaws: The Revenge). As investors and economists look for the next market risks after the pandemic, some are now expecting a follow-up to 2013’s blockbusting Taper Tantrum. This sequel could even be coming to (trading) screens [...]