Low rates, record high stocks: is the bubble about to burst? December 6, 2016 | City Talk The world is, seemingly, in a bull market in everything. Just take a few headlines from this month alone: US stocks, already at all-time highs, hit a sixth consecutive closing high, which is the first time that has happened for 20 years. In debt markets, Ireland issued a bond with a negative yield, which [...]
Marcus Brookes: How we’ve prepared for the return of inflation December 6, 2016 | City Talk Inflation was already on the rise. Now I expect the policies likely to follow in Donald Trump’s presidency will pile on further price pressure. The deflating effect of QE We have been changing our portfolios over the last year to reflect our view that inflation may be returning to the financial system. Yes, quantitative easing, [...]
City Moves for 6 December 2016 | Who’s switching jobs December 6, 2016 Cushman & Wakefield Edward Gregg has joined Cushman & Wakefield’s London project management and consultancy team as partner. Edward, who has focused on large-scale fit outs during his 19-year career – particularly in the banking, finance and insurance sectors – jointly led the JLL London fit-out team and has a string of successful and high-profile projects [...]
There are no excuses for City workers’ poor grammar and spelling: Proper use of English shows professionalism, erudition and class December 6, 2016 A recent study claimed that spelling and grammar among 16-year-old boys and girls taking their GCSEs is at its worst in 30 years. Spelling and grammar is also easily at its worst among grown-up men and women working in the City. By way of illustration, here is an excerpt from an email sent to me [...]
No-go zone: With Matteo Renzi set to resign following his defeat in the Italian referendum, should investors stay away from the Eurozone? December 6, 2016 Italy’s referendum will not weaken the European project as much as critics hope, and Trump could help equities, says Will Railton "The vote looks to me to be more about the euro than constitutional change”, tweeted Nigel Farage shortly after the Italian polls closed on Sunday night. Eurosceptics are heralding the resounding result (a 59.1 [...]
The government’s stampede to placate big business post-Brexit risks overlooking growth firms December 6, 2016 When Theresa May struck a grand bargain to secure Nissan’s commitment to manufacturing in the North East, she helped to save 7,000 jobs. She also triggered a debate about the level of support the government should provide for businesses in a post-Brexit world. After all, what is fair for Nissan should probably also be fair [...]
London number one as it beats Paris and Berlin to top Europe’s tech hotspots December 5, 2016 London is leading the way among cities in Europe for technology companies, with the booming sector set to outperform other industries over the next four years despite the vote to leave the European Union, according to a new ranking. The capital beat Paris and Berlin into second and third places respectively, while the broader Thames [...]
How low rates affect stockmarket returns December 5, 2016 | City Talk The world has been living with low interest rates for eight years but such periods are not new. Both the US and UK saw rates below 1% for most of the two decades spanning the Second World War, while Japan has been living with sub-1% rates since 1995. Stockmarkets performed very differently in each case, [...]
Gold is now an accepted Sharia investment under new Islamic banking rules December 5, 2016 Gold can now be used as a commodity to back Sharia-based financial products, with rules about using the metal as an investment set out for the first time. The World Gold Council announced the new Sharia gold standard, which sets out the way in which financial institutions can apply Sharia principles in the direct physical handling [...]
Address the leadership lag at every level of business December 5, 2016 Next year is already looking set to be a year of big change, with the UK embarking on its Brexit journey and Donald Trump entering the White House. And for businesses, this inevitably means a year of uncertainty ahead. Having trusted and well-respected leaders in place is crucial if organisations are going to weather the [...]
