US insurance giant Gallagher snaps up Willis reinsurance arm in $3.25bn deal August 13, 2021 US insurance giant Arthur J. Gallagher has announced it will buy the treaty reinsurance brokerage arm of Willis Towers Watson for a proposed cash consideration of $3.25bn (£2.35bn). It comes just over a fortnight after Willis agreed to terminate a $30bn (£22.9bn) merger agreement with Aon, in what would have created the world’s largest insurance [...]
Sir Richard Branson sells $300m of Virgin Galactic stock August 13, 2021 Sir Richard Branson has sold $300m worth of shares in Virgin Galactic, a regulatory filing showed, with the proceeds earmarked to help support the billionaire’s other ventures. The 71-year-old, who last month flew to the edge of space in his firm’s first ever manned flight, sold 10.5m shares, or about 4.0 per cent of the [...]
Job ads dip for first time in two months August 13, 2021 Job vacancies fell for the first time in two months suggesting that severe worker shortages that have plagued the UK labour market are starting to clear, according to new figures released today. Data from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation shows the number of active job postings dropped by 2,000 over the last week, the first [...]
Fed to provide clues on bond buying tapering next month August 13, 2021 Experts expect the Federal Reserve to announce its plan to wind down its ultra-loose monetary policy measures launched in response to the Covid crisis next month. Nearly two thirds of economists polled by Reuters think the US central bank will outline how it will taper its asset purchases at the next meeting of the Federal [...]
Pandemic stretches gender pension gap to nearly £200,000 August 11, 2021 Women’s retirement prospects and savings have been dragged down by the pandemic much more than men’s, widening the gap between their pensions pots by almost £200,000. On average, the difference between the average pensions of women and men aged over 55 widened to £184,000 in in the last year – up £26,000 on 2020, according [...]
Podcast: The plastic problem facing investors August 11, 2021 | City Talk Read the full transcript Part one: The weight of plastic worth all the fish in the sea Ashleigh Cowie (AC): In doing research for this podcast I came across this astonishing fact. Are you ready for it? David Brett (DB): Go on then. Hit me with it. AC: Right now, there are more than 5 trillion pieces of [...]
Three really exciting jobs to apply for this week August 11, 2021 Another week down, and another list of super cool job opportunities to share with you lovely people. This week, we’re bringing you a really cool remote Account Executive role in Klaviyo, along with exciting opportunities in Outbrain and Checkout.com. And trust us when we say they honestly all sound brilliant! Keep reading to find out [...]
Robinhood acquires investor relations platform Say Technologies in $140m takeover deal August 10, 2021 Fresh from its IPO at the end of last month, Robinhood today announced to its new shareholders that it will acquire online retail investor relations platform Say Technologies in a $140m (£101m) all-cash deal. New York fintech startup Say provides a digital platfrom that aims to enable retail investors to interact with the companies where [...]
UK fintechs shatter records and attract $24.5bn investment in first half of the year August 10, 2021 Investment in UK fintech has reached an all-time high, as firms in the industry attracted a staggering $24.5bn in the first half of the year across the highest volume of deals on record. British fintech investment across private equity (PE), venture capital (VC) and M&A deals has exploded as the country emerges from the pandemic, [...]
Strategic asset allocation or how I learned to stop worrying and love dispersion August 10, 2021 | City Talk For decades, strategic asset allocation has been considered the driving force behind investment portfolio returns. But the old adage that allocation determines 90 per cent of performance is rapidly becoming outdated. During 2020 and 2021, we have seen how the world of investing is shifting from one in which declining interest rates drive beta performance [...]
