Eurozone business activity shrinks sharply in January as lockdowns batter services January 22, 2021 Economic activity in the eurozone has plummeted in January as lockdown measures hit the bloc’s dominant service industry, a survey showed today. IHS Markit’s guide to economic health fell further below the 50 mark to 47.5 in January, a further dip from December’s 49.1. Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, believes a double-dip [...]
Has Covid-19 changed the conversation around sustainable investing? January 22, 2021 | City Talk Sustainable investing is not just about a company’s financial success, but how it achieves that success. The importance of considering all stakeholders is intrinsic to the approach. Those stakeholders range from employees to shareholders to wider society. The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on how companies treat their employees, protect their customers, and help [...]
IRSG sets out financial services roadmap for UK’s G7 presidency January 21, 2021 | City Talk The International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG) has set out its key areas of focus in financial services as the UK takes over the presidency of the G7 from the USA this month. The recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and digital agenda will all be central to the UK’s presidency, including at the 47th G7 Summit [...]
How finding the quality within value was crucial in 2020 January 20, 2021 | City Talk There are two broad areas of value in the UK market, financials and commodities, that in aggregate make up around a third of the FTSE All Share index. Within this, however, there are vast differences in both quality and performance. (Please see the end of this article for a glossary of terms). 2020 was a [...]
UK inflation doubles in a month as transport prices rise January 20, 2021 UK inflation doubled in December as prices rose during the festive period, the Office for National Statistics has announced. Prices in the run-up to Christmas were up 0.6 percent compared to a year earlier and rose from 0.3 per cent in November. Higher prices for transport, recreation and culture were flagged by statisticians, despite food [...]
Why everyone’s talking about hydrogen January 14, 2021 | City Talk What is all the excitement about? Renewable energy can and will decarbonise power generation. Renewable energy and batteries can and will decarbonise the automotive sector. But these technologies will not be as viable for aviation, shipping, commercial vehicles, steel or fertiliser manufacturing. In all of these vital industries it looks as though hydrogen will be [...]
Rathbones names ex-Phoenix boss Bannister as chairman January 12, 2021 Rathbone Brothers has appointed ex-Phoenix Group CEO Clive Bannister as its new chairman. Bannister will take over from Mark Nicholls at the wealth manager, who will retire from the role at the company’s annual general meeting in May. The news comes as Rathbones reports a nearly 9 per cent jump in total funds under management [...]
The case for investing in financials January 7, 2021 | Sponsored Entire tomes have been devoted to investing in the financial services sector – hardly surprising when you consider its size, and therefore its significance to the world’s capital markets. To say the financial sector is large doesn’t do it justice. Of the total market capitalisation of the S&P 500, the world’s largest stock market index, [...]
Sustainability investing: what does the future look like? January 5, 2021 | City Talk ‘Future of Sustainability in Investment Management: From Ideas to Reality’ is a newly published CFA Institute report. The 60-page publication was informed by the views of more than 7,000 industry participants, including 3,500+ retail investors, 920+ asset owners and 3,050+ investment practitioners. Research included virtual roundtables across 31 markets. Here we summarise its findings. The [...]
Advertising watchdog bans Klarna Instagram ads December 23, 2020 The advertising watchdog has banned several Klarna shopping adverts that appeared on Instagram and encouraged consumers to use Klarna to shop and ‘boost their mood’. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has banned Klarna’s Instagram campaign from appearing again, and warned the influencers involved to not “irresponsibly” encourage the use of Klarna’s deferred payment service. The [...]