How artificial intelligence, peer-to-peer technology and blockchain are changing the insurance industry forever July 14, 2016 Just as fintech is transforming the banking world, “insurtech” has set its sights on the insurance industry. There are firms like Trov, which provides insurance on-demand and enables consumers to catalogue insured belongings. Buzzmove uses home removals data to create a new distribution model for insurance – people are more likely to renew or buy [...]
Britons are not feeling very optimistic about the future of the state pension July 14, 2016 Britons are not feeling positive about the future of the state pension. Less than a third (32 per cent) of nearly 4,000 people surveyed for Aegon UK believe that the state pension will be as generous when they retire. Read more: Pensions minister to meet Waspi group over pension age reforms Some 33 per cent, [...]
Investing beyond 100: How rising life expectancy will change everything July 14, 2016 A century is an important milestone worthy of celebration. We recently commemorated 100 years since the Battle of the Somme. Vogue made headlines in May for featuring a 100-year old model to celebrate the magazine’s centenary year. On your hundredth birthday, you can expect to receive a message from the Queen. But what happens when living [...]
Brits should avoid acting German if the Bank of England cuts interest rates July 14, 2016 "Not all Germans believe in God, but they all believe in the Bundesbank.” Former European Commission president Jacques Delors’s pithy assessment of the German attitude to monetary policy appears in a long list of quotations from the great and the good on the central bank’s website. Alongside gems like “[the Bundesbank] is like cream, the [...]
Telematics will make you safer and save you money – by disrupting the disrupters July 14, 2016 Telematics – the technology for collecting and analysing driver behaviour – has been transforming the face of car insurance for a long time. Now it is set to play a key role in how people engage with market disrupters such as Uber and Zipcar. These new entrants give people a great deal of flexibility in how [...]
Ladies who don’t lunch: Maike Currie talks to Christine Johnson about bonds, bubbles and being a rebel July 14, 2016 "I am definitely a bond person,” says Christine Johnson, head of fixed income at Old Mutual Global Investors. We’re having lunch at Spring restaurant in Somerset House and I am beginning to understand what Christine means when she says that as a fund manager you need to “live your job”. She likens her personality to [...]
The legal implications of airing your views at work July 14, 2016 Rarely has a public issue proved as divisive as Brexit. The strength of opinion of individuals supporting either Remain or Leave has been overwhelming, and tensions across the country are still running high. Workplace discussion on political matters will continue to rage over the coming months, but could heated debates lead to discrimination claims? What [...]
Brexit batters pension plans – from falling annuity rates to slashed savings, it hasn’t been good for wannabe retirees July 14, 2016 Many people have had thousands wiped off the value of their Sipps and investment portfolios in the short time since Brexit. The bad news is that markets are likely to remain uncertain. The good news is that they will probably recover and have a solid period of rises, as the general trend over history shows. [...]
Investing in infrastructure: As confidence in property crumbles, government-backed projects may offer stable, long-term returns July 14, 2016 The gold price is up, bond yields are down, and investors are asking themselves which asset classes can shield their wealth until the impact of Brexit becomes clearer. But amid the political and economic uncertainty, two facts are unlikely to change. First, the UK population is growing, and may reach 70m people by 2027 if [...]
How to get your children on the property ladder: Five of the best options for the Bank of Mum and Dad July 14, 2016 Buying a first home used to signal the start of a new era of independence, a turning point into adulthood. But the astronomical rise in London prices has put paid to that. Home ownership is at its lowest level for 25 years. Not only are people buying their first home later – the average age has [...]
