British fintech investment slows as venture backers remain cautious July 27, 2020 Investment in the UK’s top-performing fintech sector slowed by more than a third in the first half of 2020, as investors held onto their cash during the pandemic. However funding levels still gained 22 per cent on the second half of 2019, as UK venture capital investment in fintech reached $1.84bn across 167 deals in [...]
Sowing the seeds for the next stage of fintech success July 27, 2020 Fintech in the UK has grown at breakneck speed. In 2010 it accounted for just four per cent of venture capital investment in the UK. A decade later, this figure has risen to 28 per cent, with a record $4.9bn of capital investment landing in the UK in 2019 — a year-on-year increase of more [...]
Revolut snaps up another $80m from Brewdog backers July 24, 2020 Revolut has raised a further $80m to close out its series D funding round from TSG, a Silicon Valley private equity firm that has backed the likes of Brewdog, water brand Voss and Smashbox Cosmetics. The $80m is in addition to the $500m in funding that Revolut announced earlier this year, taking its total amount [...]
FCA launches probe into Woodford depositary Northern Trust July 24, 2020 The City regulator has launched an investigation into Neil Woodford’s depositary Northern Trust over the events that led to the gating of the flagship Equity Income fund last June. The investigation was launched in recent months following an ongoing probe into Link Fund Solutions, the firm supervising the Woodford Equity Income Fund. Last June the [...]
Why investing sustainably can get you better income and better outcomes July 23, 2020 | City Talk For those that remain sceptical, we show that an integrated ESG approach can improve income stability. Not only is it possible to combine income investing and sustainable investing, we believe you can actually make your income more resilient, smooth and reliable by investing sustainably. Many things have changed for investors in a post Covid-19 world, but [...]
Social responsibility belongs in the boardroom, not the marketing suite July 23, 2020 The issues that concern young people the most today — from the climate crisis and global pandemic to new conversations on race and privilege — are ones that also belong in the boardroom. Our world is changing fast, and so too are society’s expectations of corporate Britain — not just when it comes to the [...]
DEBATE: Will long-term remote working jeopardise London’s status as a global financial centre? July 23, 2020 Will long-term remote working jeopardise London’s status as a global financial centre? Giles Fuchs, chief executive of Office Space in Town, says YES. An enduring shift towards remote working and away from the office in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic would spell disaster for London’s status as a global financial hub. Home to 1.1m [...]
Invesco bond bosses step back amid fund reshuffle July 22, 2020 Invesco has reshuffled its fixed interest management team with bosses Paul Read and Paul Causer both stepping back from their management roles on a series of a funds. Read is stepping down as manager of the Monthly Income Plus fund but will keep his management role on the £49.2m Global Income fund. He and Causer [...]
Career versus motherhood: When workplaces don’t support women, the result is a fertility crisis July 22, 2020 You’d think that a global crash in fertility rates, which will see the world’s population fall dramatically by the end of the century, might be music to the ears of any sustainability professional. Lower populations, after all, equal lower environmental impacts. Yet dig a bit deeper into the research published last week by University of [...]
Britain deserves a New Deal — with platform workers and digital rights front and centre July 22, 2020 Crises tend to reshape and transform how we work — and Covid-19 is no different. From the extraordinary rise in home working and the reorganisation of physically distanced workplaces, to the sharp rise in unemployment and the existential threat now facing many sectors, the consequences to life and work will long outlast the pandemic itself. [...]