‘Edtech’ surges to the top of the class August 6, 2020 | City Talk From near-ubiquitous interactive whiteboards to cloud platforms, coding and coaching via video-call, education technology has travelled a long way since schools introduced basic computing laboratories in the 1980s. These advancements have been given a further powerful push by the digital acceleration triggered by coronavirus: most visibly in the need for teaching professionals to deliver classes [...]
More women at the top means more profits for businesses — and a stronger economy for everyone August 6, 2020 A warm-up act will normally dismiss the first polite round of applause from an audience and insist they can demonstrate more enthusiasm than that. Many a time I’m the warm-up act on the boardroom stage. I may never manage to work the crowd into a frenzy, but at the very least I wake them from [...]
BBC hires 800 agents to quell pensioner revolt over licence fee August 5, 2020 The BBC has hired 800 agents to curb a growing revolt over the end of the over-75s licence fee, as it today prepares to send out millions of letters to affected households. The public service broadcaster last week scrapped the free TV licence for pensioners, arguing that the freebie was costing the BBC £745m a [...]
For young Londoners, working from home is a cramped and dismal experience August 5, 2020 Ah the great British work from home experiment: levelling the playing field, redressing work-life balance, enabling millions of people to work when and where best suits them. After a brief period of chaos at the end of March when the nation struggled to get to grips with Zoom and Amazon sold out of laptop stands, [...]
Without reform, the government’s Ponzi Pension Scheme will bankrupt us all August 5, 2020 For the past decade, financial markets have been dominated by the ongoing distortions set in motion by the last financial crisis in 2008. Regulatory overkill of City dealing, quantitative easing (QE) and zero interest rate policies (ZIRP) have combined to drive financial assets — stocks and shares — to record prices. Now, the consequences are [...]
US private equity firms step in where UK houses remain cautious August 5, 2020 US firms are increasing their share of the market as UK private equity houses retreat amid market uncertainty. Exclusive data seen by City A.M. shows the number of private equity investments in the UK fell by 17 per cent in the first half of the year. Investments by UK PE houses plunged 27 per cent [...]
Scottish Widows becomes first investor in Blackrock climate fund August 5, 2020 Scottish Widows has become the first investor in Blackrock’s newly launched climate fund, which is designed for the transition to a low carbon economy. The pension provider is initially allocating £2bn of its pension portfolios into Blackrock’s Climate Transition World Equity Fund. It marks a shift in strategy for Blackrock, which is using data to [...]
Could the bounce-back be quashed by a second wave? August 4, 2020 | City Talk With some countries fearing a second wave of Covid-19 cases, Schroders’ chief economist Keith Wade considers whether a bounce back in the economy could be quashed. While there are hopes that the easing of lockdowns and reopening of businesses are beginning to give life to the global economy, fears of second waves of infections are [...]
German watchdog audits collapsed Wirecard’s financial accounts August 4, 2020 Germany’s financial watchdog today announced it will conduct an audit of accounts covering the past few years of collapsed payments fintech Wirecard. BaFin said it was carrying out the audit after Wirecard refused to accept it had produced an error, despite it folding last month after details of a €1.9bn accounting black hole came to [...]
No longer superheroes? Twilight of the bonds August 4, 2020 | City Talk Superman not only has the best superpowers – he is also handsome and humble. No-one can outmatch him, except perhaps someone who brings the proverbial gun to a knife fight. In this case, that gun is Kryptonite, Superman’s only known weakness. The substance renders his powers useless. In the investment world, fixed-income instruments have their [...]
