Neil Woodford fund breaches rules after Guernsey delistings July 31, 2019 Embattled fund manager Neil Woodford has breached fund restrictions after two of his major investments delisted from the Guernsey stock exchange. Woodford has been battling to reduce his Equity Income fund’s investment in illiquid securities after it was suspended following a spike in investor redemption requests. Read more: Neil Woodford’s flagship fund to stay frozen [...]
Men-u’s mission to fix the cosmetic industry’s plastic problem July 31, 2019 There are no two ways about it: the cosmetic industry has a problem with plastic. Most households are plugged with rows of cosmetics, largely contained in single-use plastic pots. Globally, the beauty industry produces more than 120bn units of packaging every year, the majority of which is not recyclable, according to Zero Waste Week. This [...]
A gender equality lesson for the new cabinet from the world of academia July 31, 2019 There has been much discussion on the gender and ethnic composition of Boris Johnson’s cabinet. The Channel 4 Fact Check site calculates that 33 MPs are entitled to attend cabinet. Of these, six – 18 per cent – are from an ethnic minority background. According to the 2011 Census, 14 per cent of the UK [...]
FCA calls for contingent charging ban on pension transfer advice July 30, 2019 Britain’s markets watchdog has proposed banning financial advisers from getting paid only when a customer moves a pension pot, a practice known as contingent charging that it said cost consumers £2bn per year. MPs called for the ban last year after accusing the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of being too slow to prevent “vulture” advisers [...]
High-yielding BP shares chased higher after results July 30, 2019 | City Talk It’s a great income stock, and these numbers justify investor interest, writes our head of markets. BP’s (LSE:BP.) strategy is a marathon, not a sprint, and this latest update for the second quarter and half-year shows that the company remains reassuringly on track. Underlying replacement cost profit was strongly ahead compared to the previous quarter and [...]
Female founders, here’s my advice for starting a business July 30, 2019 To any female founders reading this: your existence is statistically remarkable. Female tech founders are, simply put, unlikely. A report from the venture capital firm Atomico found that 93 per cent of money invested in European tech startups in 2018 went to all-male founding teams. Only seven per cent went to startups with a single [...]
Vodafone rockets 8% amid IPO excitement July 29, 2019 | City Talk It’s been a long time coming, but Vodafone has a market-friendly strategy to underpin a recovery. The spin-off of the “TowerCo” business is by far the most scintillating development within Vodafone (LSE:VOD) first-quarter trading update. Vodafone had previously mentioned that it was planning to monetise this part of the business, and has now added some flesh to [...]
Neil Woodford defends share sell-off as he faces removal from namesake fund July 29, 2019 Embattled stock picker Neil Woodford has defended his decision to sell the majority of his stake in his investment trust as it considers whether to replace him as manager. Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) announced this morning that Woodford had sold 1.75m shares, 60 per cent of his stake, to “meet personal financial obligations” including [...]
Why we’re at a tipping point for clean energy July 29, 2019 | City Talk Alternative energy sources to fossil fuels have been around for many years. Wind, solar and tidal power have all been harnessed to a greater or lesser extent by numerous countries around the world. But we think that the transition to renewable energy is set to pick up speed rapidly and there are three reasons why. [...]
What are the banks doing to help survivors of financial abuse? July 29, 2019 Money ultimately brings us freedom, so what if your partner were to restrict access to your income or bank account? It’s not uncommon for perpetrators of domestic abuse to manipulate their partners through money in this way – in fact, according to Women’s Aid, a third of survivors say that their access to cash during [...]
