London, this is Scotland calling… November 16, 2016 | City Talk To paraphrase the comedy legend, Billy Connolly: "Never trust a man who, when left alone with a tea cosy, doesn't try it out for size." He had a point. And this same sense of innovation is not lost on Scotland's financial sector. Over the decades major multinationals have tried Scotland out for size, and found it a perfect fit for their [...]
Donald Trump and emerging markets: Why you should buy the Mexican peso, government and corporate bonds November 16, 2016 If the performance of the dollar and US equities has defied forecasts since Donald Trump’s election, the impact on other assets, like US Treasuries and emerging market (EM) securities, has been grimly predictable. EM corporate debt had been one of 2016’s best performing asset classes, and funds which invest in these countries attracted $47bn from [...]
Face-to-face VC contact adds genuine value to startups November 16, 2016 For the uninitiated, it can be easy to assume that venture capital firms select the startups they invest in in the same way stock market investors pick companies – by looking for a promising opportunity to grow their capital, based on historical trends, business plans, and other rational decision factors. The truth is that venture capital investment [...]
FTSE 250 asset manager ICG’s shares jump seven per cent as profits grow November 15, 2016 FTSE 250-listed Intermediate Capital Group’s (ICG) share price soared more than seven per cent this afternoon after the firm reported rising assets under management (AUM). Total AUM were up two per cent to €22bn (£19bn), with €1.4bn of new money raised, while pre-tax profit came in at £126.2m for the six months to 30 September [...]
Swathes of pensioners are suffering from buyer’s remorse after cashing in pensions November 15, 2016 Tens of thousands of savers are blissfully unaware of the risks of drawing cash lump sums from retirement savings according to research released today. As part of former chancellor George Osborne's push to give Britain's retirees greater pension freedoms, a tax-free lump sum of up to 25 per cent was introduced in 2015. Read more: Enthusiasm for Osborne's [...]
Google just promised everyone in the UK free digital skills training November 15, 2016 The boss of Google has promised every single person in the UK free digital skills training. In a speech in London today, Sundar Pichai will say: “No matter where you live, no matter where you’re from, no matter what your job is – you deserve access to all the information, education, and opportunity the web has [...]
The FCA confirms final rules on capping early exit pension charges November 15, 2016 The City watchdog has announces its final rules on capping early exit charges for pensions. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said today that from 31 March next year, early exit charges will be capped at one per cent of the value of existing contract-based personal pensions, including workplace personal pensions. Early exit charges that are [...]
Evelyn Wallace of AXA advises on respectfully managing an employee with cancer November 15, 2016 With an estimated 2.5m people living with cancer in the UK there’s a strong chance that you, or someone you know, has personal experience of the disease. Perhaps you’ve managed an employee who’s been diagnosed with cancer? With the number of people in the UK affected by cancer set to rise to 4m by 2030, there [...]
Metro Bank, Deloitte and Setl are testing a blockchain-based contactless card November 15, 2016 Metro Bank, Deloitte and blockchain startup Setl have created a card for making simple contactless payments such as buying a morning coffee, using the distributed ledger technology (DLT) in a trial that's understood to be the first of its kind. The card has been tested by 100 people as part of the City watchdog's fintech sandbox [...]
Aviva warns that current saving levels are not sufficient November 15, 2016 Britons need to be saving a whopping six times more than the minimum levels introduced by the government, according to the UK’s largest general insurer. Aviva said that the British public should be setting aside 12.5 per cent of their salary to save for old age. This compares with the current minimum requirement of two per cent under [...]
